Emerald's Universe
by RJwriter
Summary: While talking to Connie after the events of "Bubble Buddies", Steven finds a mysterious Gem bubble. Inside the bubble is another Gem/human hybrid, with an emerald gemstone. While the Crystal Gems fight enemies of their own, Emma will discover her powers, and perhaps find love...
1. -1: Bubble Trouble

-1: Bubble Trouble

* * *

"Why is it chasing us?!" Steven cried, looking at the gem monster as it pursued Connie, then looking to her as she climbed up a pile of rocks in an attempt to hide. "The bracelet! It eats bright stuff. Connie!"

"Steven!" Connie yelled, running toward Steven with the monster in pursuit.

"Give me the bracelet!" Steven said, taking the glow bracelet off the girl's wrist.

"What?!"

"It's okay, now go, go! Run that way!" Steven cried, pushing Connie in a different direction. "I'm sorry!"

The gem monster pursued Steven with the bracelet as he ran and yelled frantically, zigzagging around the pillars of the pier, causing the monster to wrap around itself, immobilizing it as it struggled to break free. Connie and Steven held hands and looked on in horror as the pillars broke, causing the pier to collapse on the monster and destroy it.

"Steven!" the Gems yelled, rushing toward the two.

"Steven, what's going on?!" Pearl snapped accusingly. "What did you do?!"

"He was incredible!" Connie gushed as Garnet picked up and bubbled away the monster's gem.

"Really? You mean it?" Steven asked, and Connie nodded. "Here's your bracelet… again."

"Thanks," Connie said with a laugh.

"So, are you going to introduce us?" Amethyst asked, grabbing Steven, who blushed.

"Steven was so excited to meet you," Pearl said to Connie, then she turned to Steven and said "right Steven?" causing him to nod and laugh nervously.

"Hey!" Garnet said, picking up Pearl and Amethyst. "Don't mess with his funky flow." And she walked off with them.

"Funky… flow?" Connie said, confused. Suddenly, she twisted around, having noticed something strange out of the corner of her eye. "There's another bubble!"

"What?! Where?" Steven asked, looking back at the collapsed pier, where an opaque emerald green bubble hovered, letting out a soft green glow. He watched as Connie walked over to the bubble and gently pushed it over to him. "I should take this to the Gems. They'll know what to do!"

"I need to go too. My parents are probably getting worried about me," Connie said, turning to leave. "I'll see you around, I guess."

"Yeah! I'll try to come back tomorrow, if I'm not busy with Gem stuff!" Steven said, carefully grabbing the bubble and starting to carry it back to the Temple.


	2. 0: Discovery

0: Discovery

X X X X

"Guys, I found a bubble!" Steven called, bursting through the front door of the beach house to find the Gems gathered around the kitchen island waiting for him.

"Steven, this is no time for – "

"That's an Emerald bubble," Garnet said, interrupting Pearl's dismissal of Steven's discovery.

"It can't be!" Pearl said, confused. "Emerald left us decades ago, why would one of her bubbles just show up in Beach City all of a sudden?"

"Who's Emerald?" Steven asked, letting go of the bubble and looking at the Gems, his curiosity sparked.

"Emerald was the only other Crystal Gem who survived the War," Pearl explained. "She stayed here with us for centuries, but seventy-four years ago, she got poofed on a mission, and we lost her gemstones... We haven't seen her since, and I had assumed  
she got shattered, or corrupted…"

"Didn't you look for her after you poofed the monster?" Steven asked, and Pearl grimaced.

"We weren't fighting a monster, Steven," Garnet said gently. "We were fighting World War Two."

"Em got hit by a airplane!" Amethyst said, adding, "Well, a piece of an airplane, anyway."

"After the battle, we couldn't find Emerald in the wreckage," Garnet explained, "we searched for a long time. Your mother called off the search after almost five years - when we had to go provide aid after the atomic bombs fell on Nihon."

"Wow..." Steven said, amazed at the Gems' part in history.

X

 **AN: I** ** _know_** **that there weren't any World Wars in SU canon, but in my revision/rewriting/continuation of the story, I'm diverting from canon quite a bit, so... yeah.**

 **And, if you don't know, Nihon is the Japanese name for Japan.**


	3. 1: Tiger's Mistake

**Disclaimer: I do not own Steven Universe.**

1: Tiger's Mistake

"Hey Tiger! Are ya ready to win our final match?" Amethyst said, watching Steven as he prepared for the wrestling match.

"Amethyst…" Steven started, looking down at his tiger mask sadly. "Am I the cruelest creature on the planet?

"Oh Steven, those are just words people use to describe how they feel about you," Amethyst chuckled, but Steven grew sadder. "Listen, Steven, you can't let _anyone_ make you feel like garbage."

"Is that how _you_ feel?" Steven asked Amethyst, who looked upset.

"I only feel how I wanna feel."

And she walked off in a huff.

Steven continued to prepare for the fight, pulling on his Tiger Millionaire costume slowly. Finally, he fixed the mask on his face, picked up his briefcase, and left, not noticing that he had popped the Emerald bubble by hitting it with the briefcase.

Two gems, both an identical shade of green, fell out and landed on a stray pillow on the floor.

"Steven, you really shouldn't have done that, you know – "

The Crystal Gems entered the beach house to find a brightly glowing figure hovering in the air, two gems suspended within its light.

"Steven! We trusted you to keep the Emerald bubble safe!" Pearl snapped, frozen in fear as the figure tried to separate into two smaller figures.

"I must have hit it with my briefcase when I left. I didn't mean to, I'm sorry!" Steven apologized, looking up at the Gems, who seemed to be horrified by the figure.

After a few minutes of attempting to separate into their own figures, the gems gave in and took their places in the singular body of light, which manifested a large mane of hair and a simple outfit before dimming and falling to Steven's bed as a humanoid being. A minute later, it was clear that the being was unconscious.

"Steven, you're sleeping on the couch tonight," Pearl said, walking over and making up a bed for Steven on the large couch.

"Cool!" Steven said, rushing over and clambering into the makeshift bed. "Is that Emerald?"

"We don't know who, or _what_ , it is."

 **AN: I realize that this chapter may not be very interesting, but it helps set up the story.**

 **To help with the boringness, I'm gonna post the next chapter in just a minute!**

 **~RJ**


	4. 2: Hybrid Woman

**Disclaimer: I don't own Steven Universe. I can't even play the ukulele(one of the strings broke)! :(**

2: Hybrid Woman

X X X X

"Steven, be sure to keep the harmony," Garnet said as Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl walked over to the Warp Pad.

"No problem," Steven said, getting on the Warp Pad. "Today's going to be all about HAR-MON— "

With a flash, the three Gems warped away, leaving Garnet alone in the beach house.

"Don't break anything," she said to the still-unconscious being on Steven's bed before warping away herself.

For the first few minutes, nothing happened. Then, after five minutes of silence, a groan pierced the still air of the beach house. The figure on the bed stretched and yawned, eyelids slowly parting to reveal deep green eyes.

"Where am I?"

X X X

"We're back!" Steven crowed as he and Opal warped into the house. Garnet was already back and was in the process of drying her hair.

"The Heaven Beetle," Garnet said simply, and Opal panicked.

"I don't have it," she gasped, then split apart in a flash of light, leaving her constituents sitting on the floor glaring at each other.

"Amethyst, _you_ got distracted!" Pearl snapped, gracefully picking herself up from the floor.

"Hey, _you_ were the one getting carried away with all those fancy backflips!" Amethyst snapped back, pushing herself onto her feet.

"Wait a sec!" Steven said, reaching into his pocket and producing a beetle. "I've got the beetle!"

"Good job, Steven," Garnet said, taking the beetle and putting it in a small terrarium with another beetle before creating a red bubble around the container. "I also see you helped your teammates fuse." That statement caused Pearl and Amethyst to stare  
at each other, surprised.

"And all I had to do was get eaten by a bird," Steven said, stepping down from the Warp Pad and moving into the main house.

"Nice work," Garnet said, ruffling Steven's hair with a gloved hand. "you'll be great at fusing one day."

"Yeah..." Steven said, processing what Garnet had said. "Wait! I can do that too?!"

"Okay, what are you people talking about?" the figure on the bed asked, standing up and moving toward the Gems. "That is, if you're even _people_."

"Ah! You're awake!" Pearl said, rushing over to where the girl stood. "We're the Crystal Gems. I'm Pearl, Garnet is by the Temple Door, Amethyst is in the kitchen, and Steven is on the couch."

"I'm Emerald," the girl said, kneeling down to get closer to Pearl. "Emerald Smith. But most people just call me Emma."

"So she _is_ Emerald!" Steven cried, jumping off the couch and climbing the stairs to sit next to Emma. "I knew it!"

"Do you know why I have these rocks embedded in my skin?" Emma asked, pointing to the gems on her chest and the back of her neck. "You four seem to have rocks in your bodies, too."

"Your mother, Emerald, was a Crystal Gem," Pearl explained, pointedly ignoring the fact that Amethyst was consuming a large portion of the contents of the fridge. "Seventy-four years ago, Emerald was lost to us during the Battle of Britain. You are the  
result of her reproduction with a human. Due to her being a fusion of two gems, you are two-thirds Gem and one-third human."

"So I'm a hybrid," Emma said, resting her hand on the gem on her chest. "But I look completely human, except for the rocks- I mean gems- embedded in my skin. Well, and the fact that I'm really short."

"I'm half-Gem!" Steven said, lifting his shirt to display the pink gem in place of his navel. "And I look human, too!"

"What type of gem is that?" Emma asked, her free hand moving toward the boy's gem, but stopping short of actually touching the stone.

"Rose quartz," Pearl said, walking into the kitchen and pushing Amethyst away from the fridge in order to pull out a premade salad.

"Oh," Emma said, hopping down from the raised platform she had been sitting on. "Ah, that was a longer fall than I expected."

"Are you okay?" Steven asked, looking down at the girl, who had landed in a crouch to absorb the force of landing.

"Yeah," she said, standing up and looking around. "Um, actually, I'm a bit hungry..."

"Here!" Pearl said, handing Emma the salad as Amethyst went back to raiding the fridge. "I figured you'd be hungry, you've been unconscious for a couple weeks after all."

"A couple _weeks?_ " Emma asked, worried. "I'd arranged to meet with someone about an apartment on the sixteenth..."

"It's the fifth of June," Steven said, looking at the calendar on the wall. "Where did you live before you came to Beach City?"

"I lived with my dad in a cheap apartment in Jersey for the past year, and before that we lived in London," Emma replied, then added, "Jersey isn't _that_ bad, Steven. The smog drives away the usual urban pests."

"I... I didn't say anything," Steven said, confused as to why Emma had addressed him specifically.

"I distinctly heard you say, and I quote, 'eww, Jersey!'," Emma said, turning and looking up at Steven, then she turned to Amethyst. "Don't eat the ranch, I need that for my salad."

"'Kay dude," Amethyst said, tossing the ranch over her shoulder to Emma. "Here ya go."

"Thanks," Emma said, opening the bottle of ranch and pouring it on her salad.

"I _thought_ about Jersey, but I didn't _say_ anything," Steven said, still hung up on Emma's comment to him. "Pearl, did I say anything?"

"Not about Jersey," Pearl replied. "So, Emerald, do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Uh, not at the moment, no," Emma said, continuing, "I could probably find a place, though."

"You can stay here with us!" Steven crowed, excited at the prospect of another Gem living at the Temple.

"Where is she going to sleep, Steven?" Pearl asked, sitting on the couch to think. "This is why you can't just tell someone that they can live with us!"

"I can sleep on the couch for the time being," Emma said, moving into the kitchen and grabbing a fork from the silverware drawer to eat her salad with. "Until we figure out a more permanent arrangement."

"Isn't there a bunch of space under the house?" Steven asked, hopping onto the foot of his bed and turning on the TV. "We could build her a room down there!"

"That isn't exactly possible," Pearl said. "The arms of the Temple that support the house can't be modified to allow another structure. But there is the space under here..." She gestured to the raised platform where Steven's bed sat. "It would require  
a small amount of construction to make an actual room, since it's a cave at the moment, but it wouldn't take too long."

"I thought all the caves around here were part of the Temple," Amethyst said from the fridge.

"Well, when we first built the Temple, they were," Pearl confirmed. "But since we've needed less space, some of the caves have reverted to normal."

"Can I look at the cave before you start building in it?" Emma asked, looking up from her salad.

"Of course," Pearl said, standing up and summoning her spear, which she used to carefully open up the space under Steven's bed. However, instead of an open cave, there was a stone wall.

"The Temple door is glowing green!" Steven cried, pointing to the door, which had acquired a new gem, pushing the pink gem to the center of the star.

Emma approached the door, followed closely by Pearl, and put her hand up to touch its surface. The door melted away before her hand, and she walked in, looking around in wonder.

The cave she had entered was dressed up like a room, with furniture carved from the stone of the walls. Glowing green rocks protruded from the walls, lighting up the chamber with a warm green light.

The centerpiece of the room was a giant mattress, made with green sheets and sitting on a raised stone platform. There was a closet carved into a large crack in the wall, cushioned seats made from niches in the walls, and a half-full set of shelves carved  
next to one of the seats.

"Well, this solves the problem of making me a room," Emma said, walking over to a covered archway carved into the wall and poking her head through the heavy curtain.

"Emerald!" Pearl gasped, spotting the girl from the kitchen. "How did you get into that cave?"

"This is where the door took me," she replied, opening the curtain to reveal the premade room. "It's already got a bed and stuff."

"That was your mom's room!" Amethyst said, walking over and entering the room through the archway. "This door is new, though."

"This is really cool!" Steven said, running through the arch and launching himself onto the mattress.

"Yeah, it is," Emma said, sitting on the bed next to Steven. "Now we don't have to build anything."

X

 **AN: Yeah, the cave thing is a bit of a stretch, but the Temple is an extra-/omni-dimensional thing, so it kinda works. And with the star, I picture Pearl's gem being at the top, Amethyst's and Emerald's being on the sides, and Garnet's being on the bottom, with Rose/Steven's in the middle.**

 **Please review! Whether you've got questions about the story, or you want me to post more, I** ** _love_** **to hear what you guys think!**


	5. 3: Emma and the Weirdo

3: Emma and the Weirdo

X X X X

"You should try to make some friends!" Steven said, leading me through town, where he was looking for someone to hang out with. "Oh, look, there's Lars! Come on, I'll introduce you!"

"No thanks, Steven," I said, trying to separate myself from him. "I think I'll be okay on my own. You go have fun with your friends."

"Okay," Steven said, his smile slipping for a second before returning full force. "See you later!"

"Yep," I said, watching as Steven went to talk to his friend. After a moment, I turned away and went to the arcade, where I planned to play skee-ball in order to vent my frustrations after the fiasco with the moss that happened earlier that day, as well  
as the buzzing of foreign voices in my head.

"Too much force," I muttered to myself as the first ball I pitched didn't get me any points. "Oh, not enough speed this time."

I continued to play for the next couple hours, gradually improving my technique until I was scoring hundreds of points per game.

"You're really good at this," someone said from my right, startling me and causing the ball I was pitching to go off-course and land in the ten-point zone instead of the hundred-point cup like I had intended.

"You could have at least waited until I was done with my game," I replied, picking up the next ball and easily pitching it into the hundred cup. "That ball just lost me two tickets."

"Sorry," the guy said, pulling a chair over and sitting down. "I'll just wait here."

"Nah, I can talk while I play," I said, scoring another hundred points with my last ball and waiting for the machine to dispense my tickets before inserting a quarter to play another game. "How long were you watching me before you said anything?"

"About ten minutes," he replied, and I could tell from the pitch of his voice that he was being honest. "I was going to say something earlier, but you looked really focused."

"That's because I was," I said simply, deciding to show off a little now that I knew I had an audience. I flicked my wrist a bit as I pitched the next ball, and its path curved to take it into the opposite hundred cup from the one I usually aimed for.  
I continued making trick shots as I played, enjoying the awed noises from the guy watching. The voices in my head picked up again, but I was able to tune them out by focusing on the game.

"Ugh, I'm out of quarters," I said a couple hours later after using my last quarter to buy another game. "Last game, then."

"I have a few quarters you can use," the guy said, starting to dig in his pockets.

"No, it's okay," I said, picking up the first ball and beginning to play. "I've probably just about run this thing out of tickets by now, and my arm is getting tired."

"How many tickets do you have?" he asked, watching as I racked up huge amounts of points.

"No idea," I replied, pausing to tap one of the buckets next to me with my foot. "Mr. Smiley brought me a sixth bucket about twenty minutes ago, and it's almost full. Once I'm done with this last game, could you help me carry these over to the ticket-counting  
machine? They've gotta be pretty heavy."

"Yeah, I'll help," the guy said, standing up and taking his chair back to wherever he had gotten it from. He returned just as I tore off the last ticket from the skee-ball machine, and we picked up the buckets, walking over to the counting machine, where  
I inserted the freshly-torn end of the ticket stream and watched as the machine started eating the tickets.

"So, um, I'm Ronaldo Fryman," the guy said, and I finally took a good look at him. He was almost six feet tall, heavyset, wore glasses, and had thick, dark blonde dreadlocks that looked kind of like steak fries.

"Emma Smith," I said, moving to lean casually against the side of the counting machine as the first bucket was emptied completely of tickets. "This is going to take a while."

x x x

Half an hour later, all the tickets had been counted, and Ronaldo had told me of his love of both anime and conspiracy theories.

"Well, I'm not really interested in anime, but conspiracy theories are fun to think about sometimes," I said, watching as the last few tickets were sucked up into the machine and a receipt was spat out.

" _Ten thousand_ tickets?" I read, shocked, as I walked over to the prize counter, reading the prices of the prizes on display. A six-foot tall, fluffy plush dog stood out, and I looked at the price. Ten thousand tickets exactly. "I'd like that dog  
/right there," I said, handing over the ticket receipt and waiting as the dog was retrieved and handed over the counter to me. "Thanks!"

"Do you want help carrying that?" Ronaldo asked, watching as I swung the dog up onto my back and started walking home. "Oh, looks like you've got it. Uh, I'll see you later, then, I guess."

"Later!" I said, walking along the beach toward the house.

Halfway to the house, Steven came running up beside me.

"Did you win that at the arcade?" he asked, pointing at the dog on my back.

"Yep," I replied, grinning down at him. "Five hours of skee-ball got me this guy."

"Cool!" Steven cried, grinning hugely. "Are you gonna keep him in your room?"

"Yeah," I said, starting up the steps to the house. "So, did you have fun with Lars?"

"We hung out with the Cool Kids!" Steven replied, and I gave him a confused look. "Buck Dewey, Jenny Pizza, and Sour Cream."

"Ohh," I said, pretending to know who he was talking about. "Well, I met this Ronaldo kid at the arcade. Ronaldo Fryman, he said."

"Cool."

"Oh dear," Pearl said as we entered the house, her eyes going to the dog in my arms. "You had fun at the arcade, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah," I said, taking my prize into my room, where I set him down next to one of the seats carved into the wall. "I mastered skee-ball."

"Oh."

X

 **(AN: I'm posting all the chapters of the first story arc today, as I'm already way ahead of what's already posted.)**


	6. 4: Emma the Archer

4: Emma the Archer

X X X X

"Pearl will come back to us in time, Steven. Have patience. And stop hanging out with that thing. It's creepy." Garnet said, crossing her arms. Amethyst, who had eaten a cloud on a dare, floated away. "Hmm..."

"Soooo..." I said, looking around. "Uh, I was kinda wanting to learn how to fight, too..."

"You want to know what your weapon is," Garnet said, turning around and walking back to the house. I followed, wondering what she was going to do.

"Yeah, I do," I agreed, following her inside, where she sat on the couch. I leaned against the kitchen island, looking at her expectantly.

"I never saw your mother fight, at least not as a fusion," she said, and I tossed my head back, exasperated. "Only one of her components could summon weapons, which were daggers, and her other component used pre-made swords, as she had never learned to summon her weapon."

"So my weapon could be anything," I concluded, and Garnet nodded in confirmation. "Could we go back to that arena, and I could try to summon my weapon?"

"Yes."

x x x

Five or so hours later, we were still at the arena. I had consistently failed to summon my weapon, even during simulated combat.

"I don't understand what I could be doing _wrong,_ " I said, sitting on the ground and wiping sweat from my forehead. "I've tried both gems, both in combat and just standing around normally, and _nothing works!_ "

"Are you thinking about summoning it while trying?" Garnet asked, sitting down next to me and resting her elbows on her knees.

"Of _course_ I am, why wouldn't I be?" I said, looking at her in confusion. "Are you saying that _not_ thinking about it would help? Because that makes _no_ sense."

"It works for Amethyst," Garnet said, and I scoffed, causing her to fall silent.

"Yeah, and Pearl dances like a flower, and you connect yourself with the universe," I said, recalling what Garnet had told me about how all the Crystal Gems summoned their weapons. "All of you have your own ways of doing it. I just haven't found mine yet, I guess..." And with that, I too fell silent.

After a few minutes, Garnet stood up and started over to the Warp Pad.

"Wait here," she called over her shoulder, stepping up onto the pad and warping away.

"Of course she leaves without telling me why," I muttered, letting my head fall into my hands. "That's _exactly_ what Garnet would do."

Ten minutes later, Garnet returned, carrying a picnic basket.

"I really don't think food will help," I said, watching as the tall gem laid out the picnic.

"You should eat," she said, sitting down across from me and watching me expectantly. "You're part human, after all."

"If you're trying to distract me from what we came here to do, it's not going to work," I said, picking up a sandwich and starting to eat. Garnet said nothing, instead giving a small smirk.

My mind started to wander as I ate, and I didn't notice when Garnet stood up and walked over to the other side of the arena. Once I finished the food, I looked up to find that I was alone.

"Uh... Garnet?" I called, looking over to the Warp Pad in case she had gone back to the house. "Garnet?"

"Hah!" Garnet huffed from behind me, and I turned to see her at the other end of the arena, summoning her gauntlets and starting toward me menacingly.

As I stood up, I felt an itch in my chest, right underneath my gem. I reached up and made to scratch it, but instead I felt my fingers wrap around a solid object. Grasping the object firmly, I pulled my hand away from my gem, producing a large green bow. A similar sensation rose on the back of my neck, and I used my free hand to pull an arrow from my other gem.

As Garnet advanced, I nocked the arrow and pulled it back toward me, aiming for Garnet's head. At the last second, just before I fired, I changed my aim slightly, and once I released the string, the arrow flew smoothly through the air and lodged itself in Garnet's square afro.

"Good work," Garnet said, dismissing her gauntlets and coming to stand directly in front of me. "A bow. That explains why close combat didn't work."

"Sorry about your hair," I said, gesturing toward the arrow I had fired at her. "I thought you'd dodge it."

"I was wondering what would happen once your arrow hit its target," Garnet said, reaching up and pulling the arrow from her hair.

"I'm shocked that I can use my bow as well as I can, since this was the first time," I said, feeling the bow disappear from my hand as I relaxed. "But I guess it makes sense. It's my natural weapon."

"Yes."


	7. 5: Strong in the Real Way

5: Strong in the Real Way

X X X X

"What we need is a well thought out plan-" Pearl started, her gem starting to glow to project a hologram.

We were at an old Gem communication hub, which had recently started reactivating itself. As a result, we were going to take it down.

"No. What we _need_ is Sugilite," Garnet said, and I turned to her, confused. Sugilite was obviously another Gem, but I hadn't heard of her before. "Amethyst, fuse with me."

"What?!" both Pearl and Amethyst cried in unison. Amethyst started to scream with excitement, while Pearl looked angry.

"Yeah! Let's mash it up! Bigger, badder, better!" Amethyst laughed, twirling around.

"Hold your horses! Are... you guys going to become a Gem fusion?" Steven asked, and Amethyst replied with an excited scream, Steven joining her after a few seconds.

"Wait!" Pearl snapped, and I looked over to her in the hopes of figuring out just what a fusion was. "Garnet, think about this. You and Amethyst can be a little... eheh... _unstable_ , when your personalities combine. We need to be careful! Fuse with _me_ , instead."

"We don't need to be _careful_ ," Garnet said, putting a hand on Pearl's shoulder. "We just need to be _huge_."

"Will somebody explain to me what fusion even _is?_ " I asked, but none of them were paying attention to me.

"Oh yeah! Let's wreck this joint!" Amethyst said, getting into position.

"Synchronize." Garnet said, and her gemstones glowed as she and Amethyst began to dance. Amethyst's gem glowed too, and I watched as the two danced, finally coming together in a mass of light and forming a new, larger body.

"Hahahahaha!" the new Gem cackled, cracking the knuckles of her four hands. "I forgot how _great_ it feels to be me!"

" _That's_ Sugilite?" Steven asked, astonished.

"You got it, baby," Sugilite replied, grinning. "Hey Steven, wanna see something cool?"

"Yeah!" Steven crowed, and Sugilite summoned Garnet's gauntlets and Amethyst's whip. Once summoned, the weapons fused together, making a giant purple flail. Steven gasped loudly, amazed.

"You like that, little man?"

"Are you gonna smash stuff with your wrecking-ball-thingy?"

"That's the plan! Where should I start?"

x x x

An hour or so later, Pearl and I were back at the house. She, Steven, and I had warped back while Sugilite smashed the communication hub so as to avoid getting hit by flying debris. Steven had left a few minutes earlier to go buy donuts.

"Pearl, can all Gems fuse?" I asked, looking over to where Pearl was picking up Steven's bedroom.

"Yes," she replied, carefully making Steven's bed before walking down the steps and sitting next to me on the couch. "The attributes of the component Gems combine to form one being, though fusions have extra body parts. Opal, the fusion of Amethyst and myself, has four arms, as does Sugilite. Some have extra eyes. All fusions carry the gems of their components, but the gemstones change color to match with the gem type of the fusion."

"Is it hard to fuse?" I asked, remembering the ease with which Garnet and Amethyst had formed Sugilite. "I mean, there seems to be a specific type of dance involved."

"The dance is different for each fusion," Pearl said, standing back up and moving to the open part of the room in front of the Warp Pad. "Each Gem has their own style of dance, and to fuse, the Gems must synchronize their dancing. That can be difficult for some, depending on their dance style, but if the Gems involved truly want to fuse, it will happen."

"Can fusion be done to music?" I asked, continuing when Pearl became confused, "I can only dance when I'm listening to music, otherwise it isn't all that great."

"I guess it could," she mused, becoming lost in thought. "I had never thought of that."

x x x

The next morning, Steven was continuing with his working out when Sugilite came stomping across the ocean to us.

"I'M... BORED!" Sugilite roared, and I could tell that something bad was about to happen, so I ran up the hill to the lighthouse, wanting to avoid injury.

"YOU LEFT ME BEHIND!" Sugilite bellowed, pointing at Pearl.

"We just thought you didn't need any help," Pearl said. I felt my gems trying to push out my bow, but I ignored them and the feeling soon went away.

"Now why don't you separate," Pearl continued in an attempt to rationalize with the vicious fusion, "and we can all sit down and relax?"

"No!" Sugilite snapped, kicking Pearl aside.

"Pearl!" Steven cried, concerned for the Gem.

"Listen to me!" Pearl yelled, "You've been fused for too long! You're losing yourselves!"

"I _AM_ MYSELF! AND I'M SICK OF BEING SPLIT UP! So you better get used to me, baby. AND GET THIS JUNK OFF MY BEACH!" Sugilite growled, stepping on Steven's homemade gym, destroying it. Steven, who was sore from working out the previous day, said something to Pearl, who picked him up and tossed him out of the way before summoning her spear.

"WHAT? YOU WANNA FIGHT?!" Sugilite roared, brandishing her flail.

"You'll thank me... _later!_ " Pearl said, jumping toward Sugilite, who slapped her away like a fly. Pearl threw her spear at Sugilite, knocking her shades off to reveal five glaring eyes.

"So that's what she meant when she said fusions can have extra eyes," I muttered, watching the fight continue.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE SOMETHING? YOU!" Sugilite hit Pearl up into the sky, "AIN'T!" she smashed Pearl to the ground, "NOTHING!" Pearl was injured slightly by the impact, and Sugilite attempted to crush her with her flail, but missed. Steven and his dad flew into the air, landing hard a few feet from their starting point.

"Steven!" Pearl cried, kneeling and starting to sob. "I'm sorry... Steven, Garnet, Amethyst... I wasn't strong enough, to protect you. I'm not strong enough to do anything..."

"Come on, Pearl!" Steven said through his megaphone. "Don't give up! I know you can take her down!"

"I can't..."

"Yes, you can! Come on! You always know what to do! You gotta show her what you showed me! That you're strong, Pearl! Strong in the _real way!_ " Pearl stood and looked back at the Temple, regaining her confidence.

"WHAT? YOU WANT SOME MORE?!" Sugilite yelled, glaring down at Pearl and adjusting her grip on her flail.

"Any time!" Pearl snapped, starting up the hill to the lighthouse. "You're no match for me! Not even _close!_ "

Sugilite started swinging her flail as Pearl threw her spear at her feet. Sugilite lost her footing and crashed to the ground.

"Is that all you _got?_ You think that's enough to beat-" Sugilite taunted, getting interrupted by her flail landing on her head, separating her into Garnet and Amethyst.

From my vantage point at the top of the hill, I saw everything.

"Wow..."


	8. 6: Too Many Stevens

6: Too Many Stevens

X X X X

"Hey!" Steven called, bringing my attention away from the legion of hourglasses in the shrine. "How about this one here?"

"What one?" Pearl asked, walking over to Steven. I meandered over to them, looking over all the hourglasses as I passed.

"This little one... it's adorable," Steven said, gesturing to the tiny hourglass in front of him. It _was_ rather adorable...

"Steven, the legendary glass of time won't be nearly so small and insignificant," Pearl said, walking over to another hourglass. "It'll be beautiful and grand." She looked at a medium-sized hourglass in awe, saying, "like this one!"

"I think it's this one," Garnet said, looking up at the largest hourglass.

"Woah!" Steven said, looking up at the hourglass as well.

"You mean the biggest one?" Pearl asked, and I rolled my eyes, considering the hourglasses around me. All of them had an equal chance of being the one we were looking for.

"How are we even supposed to get that back to the Warp Pad?" Pearl asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"I can carry it," Garnet replied, cracking her knuckles.

"Wait!" Pearl cautioned, putting her hand on Garnet's shoulder. "We need to be careful which one we touch, you remember what happened last time we were here."

"What happened?" Steven asked.

"Probably something that would make an action movie look boring," I remarked, trying to figure out which hourglass could be the one.

"Hey, guys, I'm making the call," Amethyst said, picking up a wonky hourglass. "And it's this janky one here!"

" _Amethyst!_ " Pearl called, scandalized, as the building began to shake.

"Ughhh..." Amethyst groaned, looking at her hourglass, "nope, it wasn't."

The Gems started for the Warp Pad as water began to flood the room. I grabbed as many hourglasses as I could carry, then ran for the Warp.

"Look out!" Garnet called, grabbing Steven and dodging the water with Pearl. "We don't have much time."

"Amethyst, come on!" Pearl snapped, not noticing when Steven broke away from the group.

"Steven?" Garnet said, concerned.

"W-where do you think you're going?!" Pearl called.

"Amethyst gets to keep hers!" Steven called back, and I rolled my eyes, tapping my foot impatiently as I waited for him to grab his hourglass and get to the Warp Pad.

"Darn tootin'!" Amethyst quipped, walking over to me carrying her hourglass.

"I'm gonna get the one I picked out," Steven said, and I sighed, stepping up onto the Warp Pad and warping away before I got too wet.

When I got back to the house, I took my hourglasses into my room and put them on a shelf along with about a dozen others. The shelf was labeled "Non-Legendary Glasses of Time", which I found amusing.

x x x

I entered the house to an odd scene. Steven, along with Steven, Steven, and Steven, were singing as a band.

" _Steven and the Stevens_

 _Come on, now, don't be shy_

 _Me, myself, and I and him (that's me!)_

 _Are all the same guy_ " Steven sang, with Steven playing guitar, Steven on bass, and Steven on drums.

"Am I hallucinating?" I said aloud, and the Stevens turned to look at me. "Not that you aren't a good musician - sorry, _musicians_ \- but why are there _four_ of you?"

"We're Steven and the Stevens!" Steven called from the drumset, while Steven, Steven, and Steven nodded in confirmation.

"Who should be the band leader?" Steven asked, holding onto the microphone stand. All the Stevens made identical noises of thought.

"Oh! The leader should be the original Steven!" Steven on drums said.

"The one that's been around the longest! Yeah, alright, that's a good idea," all the Stevens said at the same time.

"Ughhh," I groaned, trudging into my room. "There are too many of you..."

x x x

Half an hour later, I heard Steven yelling at the other Stevens.

"LISTEN UP! You can't kick me out of the band! I'm the original Steven! I created you! Steven and the Stevens was my idea!"

As he yelled, I left my room, walking over to the quartet.

"Without me, you'd all be nothing!" Steven cried, then gasped, pulling his hourglass out of his pocket. "That's it!"

Steven started laughing maniacally as he used the hourglass to go back in time. Right before he left, I grabbed onto him, going back in time as well.

"Don't start the band, Steven!" Steven told Steven, who was confused. "It will only tear us apart!"

"HA-HA!" the other three Stevens laughed in unison. "We all have time thingies!"

"You'll never catch me, you turkeys!" Steven cried, using the hourglass to leave.

"We gotta stop me!" the other three said, following Steven.

"Ugh..." I groaned, the abundance of Stevens starting to give me a headache. "Steven, can I have your hourglass for a bit? You won't miss it in the end, I promise."

"Uh, sure, Emma..." Steven said, handing over the hourglass. I used it, time traveling away.

"Where the heck _am_ I?" I muttered, looking around to see seven Stevens and a cloudy landscape. The Stevens left, and I followed.

The next location looked like a desert with marine plants, which was quite odd.

"Just take me back to the beginning!" Steven cried, and left. I left right after him, finding myself in the shrine from earlier that day.

"Stop right there!" Steven said to Steven. "Give me the time thing, Steven."

"Wait, are you future me?" Steven asked, holding the hourglass.

"Just hurry up and give it!" Steven snapped.

Suddenly, a horde of Stevens appeared, all fighting.

"Don't make me hurt me, Steven."

"Why do you need it so bad?"

"Just give it to me!"

Stevens kept appearing, most likely from alternate timelines, all fighting.

"Give it up, Steven! I know everything you're gonna do, before you do it!" Steven said, managing to get the hourglass and laughing maniacally. "Huh?"

Steven looked down at the frightened Steven below him, then looked around at all the other Stevens from different timelines all fighting each other.

Suddenly, I knew what was about to happen. I left, finding myself in my room, arranging hourglasses on my shelf.

"I don't have time to explain why I'm here," I said, grabbing my past self. "But I need to give you my memories of today's fiasco."

A flash of insight led me to press my forehead against the forehead of my past self, and as I disappeared with a flash of debilitating pain, I knew that the memories had transferred.

X

 **(AN: I realize that the last bit might seem Mary-Sue-ish, but it ties in to Emma's powers, which will be revealed in a later chapter.)**


	9. 7: Foreign Shores

7: Foreign Shores

X X X X

"Guys!" Steven cried, bursting into the house with his new mirror in his hand. "Wait till you see..."

"Yo! Ste-man!" Amethyst greeted, holding a stuffed bear.

"Hello, Steven," Pearl said, holding her spear and standing by a neatly stacked pile of school supplies.

"Howdy. Bang," Garnet said from her spot on the couch, pointing finger-guns at Steven.

"Hey," I said, offering a casual wave.

"Want to see something hilarious?" Amethyst said, moving the bear toward the pile. Pearl stabbed the bear, and I rolled my eyes at their antics. Amethyst had been challenging the symmetry of Pearl's stash for hours, as evidenced by the pile of stabbed items beside the kitchen island.

"M.C. Bear-Bear! Okay, that's great." Steven said, momentarily mourning his bear. "Anyway, I fixed the mirror!"

"Excellent work, Steven!" Pearl said, tossing the bear onto the pile with the other stabbed things.

"You didn't tell me it's like a person," Steven said, and I moved closer, looking at the mirror carefully. There was a palm-sized, teardrop shaped blue gem on the back with a crack in it.

"Wait. What?" Pearl said, sounding horrified.

"Say 'hey'. ...Little buddy... Uh... excuse us," Steven said, turning around and talking to the mirror, which talked back.

"It's talking to him? It shouldn't be able to do that," Pearl said, looking on in horror as Steven conversed with the item. "I-it should just be following orders..."

"Garnet, do something," Amethyst said, and Garnet stood up.

"Steven," she said, walking toward the boy.

"Noooo!" the mirror cried with Steven's voice.

"You should just give us back the mirror," Garnet reasoned. "It will be safer where we can watch it."

"Yeah, let's bubble it!" Amethyst agreed. The mirror continued to yell "No!"

"Steven," Garnet said, "Don't make me have to take it from you."

At that point, I walked into my room, not wanting to see or hear the confrontation that was bound to happen.

A minute later, the door slammed and I could hear the Gems running down the stairs to the beach.

Struck with curiosity, I left my room, walking out onto the deck to watch the action on the beach.

Steven was hiding behind a rock, but I could see him as he pulled the gem from the back of the mirror, which shattered. The gem levitated, forming its body and landing on the beach in front of Steven. The Gem spoke with Steven until the Crystal Gems interrupted, summoning their weapons to fight her. She simply raised a huge arm made of water from the ocean and slapped it onto the Gems, trapping Garnet.

After a minute of talking with Steven, the Gem parted the ocean and walked away, the path vanishing after she started down it.

x x x

The next morning, Steven and the Gems were discussing his punishment for freeing the mirror gem. Suddenly, Greg burst into the house, panting as all eyes turned to him.

"Dad?" Steven asked, concerned.

"Uh, you guys better come check this out," Greg said, and I rolled my eyes, having seen the damage that the mirror Gem, Lapis Lazuli, had dealt to the beach. The water had disappeared, and the city's inhabitants were panicked.

x x x

Hours later, we found the ocean piled into a single, huge tower.

"This is it," Garnet said, standing in front of the tower. "Lapis Lazuli is here."

"I don't understand," Pearl said, looking at the tower with confusion. "What does she want with the ocean?"

"You shouldn't be here!" a voice echoed from the tower.

"She sensed us," Garnet said, looking at the tower.

"Lapis Lazuli! It's me, Steven!" Steven called, stepping forward. Lapis Lazuli's face formed from the water and spoke.

"Go away, before I make you," she said.

"But we're beach-summer-fun buddies!" Steven protested, and a watery imitation of his face cried "No!" just like the mirror had the night before.

"You're one of _them_ ," Lapis said after reforming her face. "One of _the Crystal Gems._ "

After a brief exchange, Lapis formed water clones of us and we were forced to fight them. Water-me was really good at fighting, which was unfair, since I hadn't had much combat training.

"I said, _I don't wanna fight!_ " Steven yelled, summoning his shield. A ball of water thrown by his water clone hit it, creating a metallic reverberation that caused the water clones to disappear.

"Lapis, I'm coming up to see you." Steven said, approaching the tower. "...So please don't drown me."

With that, he jumped into the tower, where a water hand carried him swiftly upward out of sight.

A few minutes later, the tower started to shake. It was coming down.

"Well, this is just _great..._ "


	10. 8: New Gem

8: New Gem

X X X X

"I can't believe that they _still_ have me sitting out of missions," I said, leaning back against the base of the Warp Pad as the Gems dealt with a monster. I saw Pearl and Amethyst approaching, and they were talking about something, but I couldn't hear them. A few seconds later, Garnet came into view, bubbling a gem away with Steven following behind.

"Wait up! Sorry I couldn't help much, I think the flowers are making me-" Steven said, pausing to sneeze onto Garnet's hip. "Sorry, Garnet."

"I'll live," she replied, totally unaffected by the sneeze.

"Oh, Steven," Pearl said, "you're supposed to sneeze into your antecubital fossa."

"My what?"

"Your... this thing," Pearl explained, pointing to the inside of her elbow as the Gems and I climbed up onto the Warp Pad. Steven looked down at his own elbow as we warped away.

"Ah-ahh!" Steven gasped, drawing breath for a sneeze.

"Do it at Pearl!" Amethyst laughed, pointing to Pearl.

"Steven, your fossa!" Pearl said, and I cocked a smirk at her lack of knowledge of humans.

"Ah-CHOO!" Steven sneezed, propelling himself upward so his head stuck out of the warp stream.

"Oh!" Pearl gasped, and I poked my head out of the stream, curious as to what the Warp Dimension looked like. There was mostly dark, empty space, but one other warp stream was active, carrying a small object.

"Huh?" Steven said, also noticing the other stream. "Waah!"

Suddenly, we were pulled back into the stream by Pearl.

"Careful!" she chided, "It's dangerous to stick your head out of the stream!"

"There's not much air, and it's _very_ cold," Garnet said, flicking an icicle of snot off Steven's nose.

"You guys, I saw something out there!" Steven said, and I nodded my agreement, but I was ignored in favor of Steven.

"What?" Pearl asked.

"Something warping!"

"Steven, that's not possible," Pearl said, and I rolled my eyes at her dismissiveness. "Is your vision blurry from the pollen?"

"I can see perfectly," Steven said, pausing as he squinted at Pearl, "Pearl. I know there's something out there!"

"I saw it too," I chimed in, but Pearl made a shushing motion with her hand.

"There's nothing out there, Steven," Garnet said with an air of finality. "There hasn't been anything else for a long, long time."

x x x

The next morning, we baked a tray of cookies for Steven, who was sleeping against the front door. Well, _I_ baked the cookies, since none of the Gems knew how.

"Steven," Pearl said in a sing-song voice, poking Steven awake. "We've got a surprise for you..."

"Aah! Aghh!" Steven cried, spraying Pearl with his water gun.

"Gah!" Pearl cried, falling to the floor in surprise.

"Oh, Pearl." Steven said, looking at the Gem on the floor in front of him.

"Now you're not getting any cookies," Garnet said, holding the tray of cookies.

"Cookies?!" Amethyst exclaimed, "I'll take em!"

Garnet whistled, and Amethyst took the tray of cookies and started eating them.

"Slow down, Amethyst," Garnet chided.

"I'm sorry, Pearl," Steven said, looking upset. "I just, I guess I didn't..."

"Didn't sleep," Garnet said, a finger on her chin as she thought.

"Maybe," Steven yawned.

"Oh, Steven!" Pearl said, wiping some water out of her eye. "This isn't about the thing you think you saw outside the warp stream yesterday, is it?"

"But it was real!" Steven protested. "Something was warping somewhere in the warp!"

"Listen," Pearl said, putting both hands on Steven's cheeks. "Nothing on Earth can use the warps but us. Do you understand?" Steven looked away, not believing her, "Steven, nod in agreement if you understand. Nod in agreement-"

"I'm confident Pearl is right," Garnet said, gaining their attention. "But if it'll make you feel better, we can just go check."

Steven removed Pearl's hands from his cheeks and nodded with a grateful smile.

x x x

Later that day, we were back at the house from checking all the Warp Pads when the Pad in front of the Temple Door activated. I didn't see it happen, but when I poked my head outside my room, Steven was gone from his spot in front of the pad. The other Gems soon joined me, talking amongst themselves, and Garnet stepped up onto the pad, warping away. Pearl, Amethyst, and I followed a few seconds later, finding Garnet and Steven in the warp stream.

"Steven," Pearl said as we caught up to them. "Are you okay?! Amethyst heard the Warp Pad activate, and Garnet said you were floating outside the stream and" she looked at the robot that Steven held. "Uh... What is that?"

"You don't know?" Steven asked, worried.

"Woooah, that thing's far out," Amethyst said, looking at the thing.

"It's some kind of space robot. There were tons of them!" Steven said, letting the robot go as he spoke. "And it looked like they were all going to the same place."

Moments later, we arrived at the Galaxy Warp, where a bunch of the robots were shooting weird goo onto the Homeworld Warp. We ran toward them, wondering what they were doing.

"What are they doing to the Homeworld warp?" Pearl asked, stunned.

"There's a million of them!" Amethyst cried. The robots moved away from the Pad, and it looked good as new. "They fixed it?!"

"What does that mean?" Steven asked, looking at Amethyst.

"I... don't know!" Pearl cut in.

Just then, the Homeworld Warp activated. Garnet grabbed all of us and leapt behind a large rock to hide.

A Gem arrived from a warp stream, looking around the area. She gently stomped on the Homeworld Warp.

"Hmm," she said, her voice nasally.

"Who is that?" Pearl whispered.

"No idea," Garnet whispered back.

The Gem opened up a screen, looking at the information it showed.

"Log date: 3 1 2. This is Peridot, performing Earth hub maintenance check," she said, and I felt my mouth stretch into a dreamy smile as I watched her.

 _God, she's cute,_ I thought, watching as one of the robots crawled up onto her shoulder.

"Peridot. Her name is Peridot!" Steven said, and Pearl and Amethyst covered his mouth.

"Warp repair a success," Peridot said, "All 79 flask robonoids deployed and accounted for. Preparing to locate and manually reactivate Kindergar-" she gasped as a damaged robonoid tried to crawl up her leg, then lay down and rolled back and forth as if asking for help.

"Aww," Steven whispered, "The little ones are like her babies."

Peridot, however, was annoyed. She stepped on the robonoid and pushed on it until it popped. Steven gasped, then ducked back down.

"Now to access the domestic warp." Peridot said, walking down the stairs. "Huh?" she picked up the Crying Breakfast Friends sticker that Steven had put on the Warp during one of our checks, "Huh." she looked around, "This site may have been compromised."

Peridot walked back up onto the Homeworld warp and placed a beeping green stone as she warped. Once she was gone, the stone exploded and the robonoids deactivated.

"They're coming back!" Pearl cried fearfully. "I can't do this!" she covered her face with her hands "Not again!"

"We're dead!" Amethyst exclaimed, "We are so dead!"

"Was that another gem? Where did she come from? What was she trying to do?" Steven unleashed a barrage of questions as Garnet started for the Homeworld Warp. "Huh?"

"It doesn't matter," Garnet said, summoning giant gauntlets onto her hands and smashing the Homeworld Warp. "She's not coming back!"

 _That's a pity. She was really cute..._


	11. 9: Together Forever

9: Together Forever

X X X X

"Emma! Get out here!" an unfamiliar voice called, and I put my book down, standing up and leaving my room to find a new girl standing by the door. She looked unsettlingly familiar; her hair looked like Connie's, she had Steven's gem, and her clothes were a mix between Steven's tshirt and jeans and Connie's dress. Her face was a mixture of the kids'.

"Steven and Connie fused," I said, raising an eyebrow and leaning against the counter to see what the Gems were going to do.

"Pretty cool, right?" the fusion asked with a confident smile.

"He fused? With his friend Connie?" Pearl asked, confused.

"Pearl, look at Garnet," Amethyst laughed. Garnet had her hands clasped together, a huge grin on her face.

Pearl walked up to the fusion, her chin in her hand as she peered at them.

"This is unprecedented," she said, starting to examine the fusion, "A Gem fusing..." she touched their arms, "with a human..." she touched their right leg, "being?" she stood up, "It's impossible!" Pearl looked away, hand cupping her face, "Or at the very least inappropriate."

"Wow!" Amethyst laughed, going up to them and putting her hands on their abdomen, one palm on either side of their gem. "You two look great together! How does it feel, Steven? Connie? ...Stevonnie?"

"It feels amazing!" Stevonnie said, grinning.

"Yes," Pearl said, her tone clipped with discomfort. "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying yourselves, but you two should un-fuse this instant."

"Wait. What?" Stevonnie straightened up, suddenly serious. "Pearl. You were so worried Steven wouldn't be able to do this. Aren't you proud of him?"

"Of.. course I am! I-" Pearl said, looking at Garnet worriedly. "Garnet, help me out here."

"Stevonnie," Garnet said, approaching Stevonnie; Amethyst and Pearl backed away. "Listen to me." She cupped Stevonnie's face in her hand. "You are not two people. And you are not one person. You... are an experience! Make sure you're a good experience. Now... Go! Have! Fun!" Garnet grinned, letting go of Stevonnie, who left, running down the stairs and laughing their head off.

"So... This means that I could fuse?" I asked, curious.

"Potentially," Pearl said, contemplative.

"Definitely," Garnet interjected, grinning at me. "Make sure you choose the right person for your first time."

"Uh, okay..." I said, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "I'm gonna go now. There's a party later, and Ronaldo invited me to go."

"See ya later!" Amethyst said, pushing me toward the door. "You don't want to make your _boyfriend_ wait!"

"He's _not_ my boyfriend!" I protested. "He _may_ have a crush on me, but I only think of him as a friend!"

x x x

At the party, which was actually a rave, I encountered Stevonnie again. They took over the dance floor, unintentionally of course, but had a bit of a panic attack when everybody was staring at them after finishing their dance.

"Poor kid," I said to Ronaldo as Kevin started flirting with Stevonnie. "Getting targeted by Don Giovanni over there."

"So, uh, you gonna dance?" Ronaldo asked, and I gave a noncommittal shrug, preferring to watch the fiasco Kevin had started.

"Hey baby, why'd you leave me on the dance floor?" Kevin asked, having cornered Stevonnie against the wall.

"I don't-" they started, then pushed Kevin's hands away, looking stern. "I don't want to dance anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked, brushing his fingers through his bangs. "We're the best thing that's ever happened to this place. Come back out with me."

"Why should I?" Stevonnie asked, defiant.

"Because we're _angels_ walking among garbage people." Kevin explained in a patronizing tone. "We're perfect for each other."

"Ugh, he tried that on _me_ a couple weeks ago," I shuddered, remembering the creep trying to seduce me.

"How can you _say_ that?!" Stevonnie snapped, "You don't even know us!"

"Oh, woah. I'm just looking for a dance!" Kevin said, is tone turning accusatory, "Don't get crazy."

"No one is crazy. I just don't like feeling alone here!"

"If you're so lonely, then dance with me!"

"Ugh! Fine," Stevonnie said, glaring at Kevin. "You wanna dance? Let's go."

They grabbed Kevin by the arm and dragged him onto the dance floor. Stevonnie turned around and looked down their nose at Kevin to deliver one last scathing line.

"And it's Stevonnie; I am _not_ your baby."

Stevonnie started to dance aggressively, causing Kevin to get a bit upset that they were ignoring him. After a minute, their gem started to glow, then they disappeared and Steven and Connie fell to the ground, stunned.

"It's two kids! _I'm out,_ " Kevin said, then left.

"We're back..." Steven said, sitting up. Connie started laughing, and Steven joined in after a moment. They stood up as Sour Cream cheered and started throwing glow sticks from his backpack. The two danced in the rain of glowsticks, ignoring the stunned crowd.

Once Steven and Connie left, everyone else started to leave as well, eventually leaving Sour Cream, Ronaldo, and me alone in the warehouse.

Sour Cream had started to pack up his stuff when Ronaldo approached him and spoke to him, quiet enough that I couldn't hear.

Another song started, one that I really liked, and I started dancing. A few seconds later, Ronaldo joined me, dancing in his own style. I let myself get lost in the music, feeling the beat as if it were my heartbeat.

Suddenly, I noticed an odd green glow creeping into the edges of my vision. Just as I noticed the glow, Ronaldo stepped on one of the remaining glowsticks and lost his footing, falling forward into me. I braced myself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, my world turned first a bright white, then completely black.

x x

The first thing they knew was their name: Emiliano.

The next thing Emiliano knew was panic. They weren't supposed to exist!

Third came motion, as their components moved their arms to check that they were there. Two of their hands came into contact with cool, smooth gemstones, the other two sat on their head, digging fingernails into their scalp through thick dreadlocks.

After, came sight. Emiliano's four eyes opened, looking through light-blue-tinted glasses at the warehouse. There was no music, just lights. Well, and Sour Cream, who was in the corner behind his DJ booth looking _very_ scared.

"Ronaldo?" Sour Cream asked, moving toward them slowly. "Emma?"

"It's Emiliano," they replied, their voice a rich tenor. "Uh, I have to go."

And Emiliano fled into the night.

x x x

When Emiliano reached the Temple, they walked up the stairs as quietly as possible, thinking that Steven would be sleeping by then.

"Emerald?" Pearl called, having heard the footsteps on the stairs. Luckily, she didn't leave the house. Emiliano entered the house, ducking slightly so that their head wouldn't hit the doorframe. "Pearl, get the other Gems," they said, and Pearl turned to see who had entered the house. Once she saw them, she screamed.

x x x

Five minutes later, the Gems and Steven had assembled, standing in front of Emiliano and trying to decipher what they were.

"You're Ronaldo and Emma!" Steven said suddenly, and Emiliano pointed at him in indication that he was correct.

"Can they speak?" Pearl asked, panicking.

"Most likely," Emiliano said, blinking her eyes at the Gem. "They're both screaming inside me, though, so I don't think it would be good for me to let them speak."

"Why do you exist?" Amethyst asked, curious.

"I have no idea," Emiliano replied, clasping both sets of hands in front of them and sitting on the floor so they wouldn't have to stoop over any longer. "I shouldn't exist. But somehow, I do."

"So Emerald and the boy are aware that they're fused?" Pearl asked, walking over to the fusion and beginning to examine them. "Why do you have four arms and four eyes? You're mostly human! Stevonnie looked human..."

"Yes, they're aware. And I think it has to do with the fact that Emma is the child of a fusion, so I have extra body parts to compensate for the multiple gemstones." Emiliano said, reaching up and twirling one of their dreadlocks around their upper left hand. "Oh, Emma stopped screaming, and she wants to talk. Here."

And Emiliano's world became black.

x x

"I fused with _Ronaldo!_ " I said, gesturing wildly with my arms, one of which hit the window, breaking it. "Sorry. Wait, how many arms do I have?" I counted my arms, coming up with four. "Four! And I have four eyes too! And glasses!"

"Yes, you do," Pearl said, touching my hair. I moved my top right hand to touch my hair, finding thick, dark blonde dreadlocks.

"Ugh," I said, looking at the lock of hair I held. "Not the type of hair I would have chosen, if I had any input." I let the hair drop back to my side. "I haven't worn glasses since I was _sixteen._ "

"You wore glasses?" Steven asked, rushing over to my side. "Do you have them still?"

"No, but I have pictures of myself in them," I replied, reaching out with my lower arms to hold his shoulders. "Stevonnie was _awesome._ Emiliano is _terrifying_. Well, _being_ Emiliano, not them _themselves._ "

"Is Emiliano a boy or a girl?" Steven asked, and I gave a small laugh.

"Neither," I replied, "or both. Like Stevonnie. Do I- er, we- do we look like a boy or a girl?"

"More like a girl," Steven said, and I smirked.

"I thought so," I said, looking down at my shirt. It was an odd shade of green, with orange and orange-red splotches coming up from the bottom like flames. There was an almost-star-shaped cutout in the chest that showed my gem, and yellow splotches surrounded it. "You know, this isn't too bad. The extra eyes are a bit weird to look through, but the extra arms are fun!" I said, my smirk turning into a full-blown smile.

"Yes, but you should unfuse now," Pearl said, giving me a stern look.

"How?" I asked, looking up at her. "You never said anything about _un_ fusing."

"Pull your consciousness away from the fusion," Garnet said, and I tried to do what she said, but it didn't work.

x x x

Half an hour later, we had decided to let the fusion unfuse itself. Mainly because I was tired, but also because we couldn't get it to separate, even with help from Emiliano.

 _Ronaldo?_ I thought as I walked into my room to go to bed. _You there, Steakfries?_

 _Yeah,_ he thought back, not reacting to the nickname. _Why? I know what's going on._

 _I'm gonna go to sleep soon. Though, you probably already know that..._ I thought, getting into bed and shifting around to get comfortable. _So, if you wake up back in your own body, just go. You don't have to wake me up._

 _Okay._

x x x

The next morning, I woke up alone. I rolled over, finding a note on the night stand.

x x

 _Emma,_

 _Thanks for putting up with me last night. Sorry about all the screaming. We look good together, by the way._

 _Emiliano was fun._

 _-Ronaldo_

x x

"That shirt _was_ awesome..."

X

 **(AN: I gave Emiliano a distinct name, rather than a "fusion" of Ronaldo and Emma's names, because the potential names didn't sound that good to me. And Emiliano was instantly aware of their name because, as the child of a fusion, Emma is subconsciously more aware of the names of her fusions.)**


	12. 10: Robot Riot

10: Robot Riot

X X X X

" _Aahh!_ "

"What?" I said, jumping off the couch and rushing out the door to find Steven and Connie on the beach with a large robonoid in the water near them.

"What was that?" Amethyst asked as the Gems joined me on the porch.

"It's one of the Marble Robots," Steven replied as the robonoid rolled up to the shore and grew its legs.

"What?" Connie asked, closing her book. The robonoid began to approach the kids, but Garnet jumped down to the beach and stopped it with her gauntlets.

"Amethyst! Pearl!" she yelled, blocking the robonoid. Amethyst and Pearl jumped down onto the robonoid, popping it. Steven formed a bubble around himself and Connie, shielding them from the spray of robo-goo.

I hopped onto the railing of the stairs, sliding down and pushing myself off at the end to fly through the air toward the Gems. Instead of making a graceful landing next to Pearl like I intended, I belly-flopped directly into the epicenter of the goo explosion, covering myself in the stuff.

"You okay?" Steven asked, and I raised an arm to give a thumbs-up.

"I love hanging out at your place!" Connie exclaimed, amazed.

"Pearl," Steven began, "do you think this was-"

"One of Peridot's machines?" Pearl said. "Yes I think so, only... we've never seen one this big before."

"Or this gooey!" Amethyst laughed, also covered in the goo.

"Amethyst, we need to be careful. We don't know what this stuff is." Pearl chided, "You too, Emerald."

I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees, carefully standing up to find Amethyst chasing Pearl around in an attempt to hug her.

"COME HERE, PEARL!" Amethyst yelled, running after Pearl. "I _love_ you, Pearl!"

"Peridot," Connie repeated as Steven dematerialized the bubble around them. "Is that the Gem you told me about? The one that's trying to come to Earth?"

"Yeah," Steven replied, "We stopped her before but, I guess she can still shoot stuff here from space." He walked over to Garnet. "So... what do you think it was here to do?"

"We destroyed it," Garnet said, picking up a piece of the destroyed robonoid. "-that's all that matters."

"Goop hug!" Amethyst cried, hugging Garnet and distributing her goo. Pearl approached, covered in goo and looking embarrassed, then Garnet pulled her and me in to have a goop hug.

"This is nice and all, but I need a shower," I said, ducking out of the hug after a moment.

x x x

Four weeks – and forty-three showers – later, we were fighting a robonoid in the desert.

"Stop! -coming! -here! -you! -stupid! -balls!" Pearl growled, punctuating her words with a stab of her spear into the robonoid she was sitting on top of.

"Yeah! Let it out! Get crazy!" Amethyst said, attempting to pull it back with her whip.

"Guys, guys, guys! Stop!" Steven cried, flailing his arms around. We paused in our fighting the robonoid and looked at him; I lowered my bow and let the arrow I was holding dissolve into light. "How many more of these things are you gonna have to fight?"

"We don't know!" Pearl cried, "They just keep _coming_ and _coming_ and we don't even know what they _are!_ We don't know anything!"

"They're called robonoids," I offered, but they ignored me.

"That's okay – I don't know anything all the time, it's like my whole life," Steven said, "But I have you guys to tell me about Gem stuff, Connie can explain what familiars are, and Dad tells me weird dad stuff."

"But nobody knows what these things are here to do," Pearl said, completely missing Steven's point.

"Well – it probably does," Steven said, pointing at the robonoid.

x x x

A few minutes later, we had ridden the robonoid to the Kindergarten and were in an underground control room. The robonoid activated a monitor screen that revealed Peridot.

"Established Gem Projection Link with control room," Peridot said, and I watched her from my hiding spot, which was separate from where the Gems and Steven were hiding. "Plug Robonoid has successfully landed on Planet Earth and entered Prime Kindergarten Control Room in Facet Five. Will proceed to perform status check of Kindergarten."

From where I was, I could hear the Gems and Steven whispering, but not what they were saying. After a minute, Steven jumped up onto the platform and ran up to the monitor. I followed, intending to pull him back down to hide, but he resisted.

"Now accounting for all operational Injectors. Checking for aberrations in perimeter." Peridot said, making two large green hands emerge from the floor and taking cylinders of rock from the ceiling. "Ugh, this Gem Tech is simply archaic."

"I don't know, I think it looks pretty cool," Steven said. I slapped my palm to my forehead in exasperation, letting it slide down to cover my eyes with my fingers.

There was silence as Peridot canceled what she was doing and turned the monitor to face Steven.

"Hi! I'm Steven," he said, waving at her.

"There appears to be an infestation of "Stevens" in the Kindergarten," she said.

"Daw, I'm not so bad once you get to know me!" Steven said, grinning up at Peridot.

"And how many more Stevens are present in this area?" she asked, then noticed me, "Two?"

"I'm Emma, not Steven," I said, pursing my lips.

"Oh," she said, narrowing her eyes at me. "So tell me – have Stevens and Emmas replaced humans as the dominant species on Earth?"

"Oh no – there's lots of humans," Steven replied, "there's my dad, Connie, Lars and Sadie, the mailman, Onion... I think... Lots of people!"

"Hmm..."

"Now I get to ask a question," Steven said, grinning, "what are you doing?"

"Hm, just picking up where we left off," Peridot replied, turning the monitor away. She raised a hand above Steven and formed a fist, then attempted to crush him. Garnet caught the fist and threw it. Peridot's monitor turned back, and she looked surprised by Garnet's presence.

"A Gem!" Peridot cried, then Amethyst and Pearl jumped up. "Ah! More? But the Red Eye didn't report the presence of any Gems on this planet!"

"That's because we destroyed it," Pearl said, blushing.

"You what?" Peridot said, surprised, "But the records say that the Gems were wiped out on earth... wait a minute... you're the ones that have been destroying my Plug Robonoids... are you the reason the Homeworld Warp is down again? Is this your bizarre icon?" she displayed the Crying Breakfast Friends sticker "Aaaagh! Why do you keep destroying my _things?!_ "

"Because we are the Crystal Gems!" Pearl snapped, still blushing, "We're still alive, and we're still the guardians of this planet and all its living creatures!"

"The Crystal Gems?" Peridot asked; we all jumped up and attacked the giant hovering hands. "Stop! How dare you? I'm doing this one way or another. You're just... making it... really... difficult!"

"Amethyst, now!" Garnet said, and Amethyst used her whip to grab a hand and throw it at the power source, destroying it.

"I'm reporting this!" Peridot snapped as the screen disappeared.

 _She's even cuter when she's angry..._

X

 **(AN: I did the math, and the "four weeks and forty-three showers" averages out to 1.5 showers per day. So, one or two robonoids a day.)**


	13. 11: Alien Handshake

11: Alien Handshake

X X X X

"Oh, my God," I said, looking up into the sky, where a giant green hand was floating. "Peridot's back."

"Emerald, get up as high on the Temple as you can," Garnet said, and I gave a stiff nod, turning to enter the house and use the Warp Pad. "Try and shoot it down."

I warped up to the Laundry Hand, then set about climbing up the Temple to the highest arm. Once I was on the arm, I summoned my bow and took out an arrow, aiming for the Hand Ship.

"Go," I muttered, releasing the arrow and watching as it flew through the air to the hand. Instead of piercing the surface as I had intended, it merely glanced off the surface.

Over the next five minutes, I continued to shoot at the approaching hand while the humans and Steven evacuated the town.

"Come down here, Emerald!" Garnet yelled, and I looked down to see her standing next to Pearl and Amethyst. "You need to fuse with Pearl!"

Excited at the prospect of fusing with another Gem, I leapt off the arm I was standing on. I fell to the beach in a ball, rolling along to use up the energy from the trip down. Upon coming to a halt, I stood up, finding myself next to Pearl.

"I'm ready," I said, getting into position to start dancing.

Pearl started dancing her smooth ballet, and I followed along, feeling the beat that she danced to and incorporating it into my own dance. Soon, we had come together in a waltz, and I spun her out from myself, looking over at her to see her gem glowing  
/on her forehead as I spun her back, allowing her form to meld into my own as our bodies came together.

x x

I came to awareness as Tourmaline, quickly summoning Emerald's bow and Pearl's spear and fusing them into a crossbow. Taking a bolt from the back of my neck, I loaded the crossbow and took aim at the hand, shooting at it only for the bolt to glance off  
/the surface.

"Garnet," I said, looking down at the Gem beside me, who looked up into my eyes with false calm, "This isn't going to work. My bolts are material. Perhaps Opal's energy arrows could get through the hull of the ship, but my bolts won't penetrate. Emerald's  
/arrows won't either."

"At least we tried," Garnet said, grimacing. "Okay, you can unfuse now. Opal is up next."

"Thank you for allowing me to come to being," I said as my consciousness separated itself and my body split into Emerald and Pearl once more.

x x

I came back to myself to find that I was holding Pearl to my chest. I quickly released her, watching as she fused with Amethyst to become Opal.

"Garnet," I said quietly, looking up at the Gem beside me as Opal shot an energy arrow at the ship.

"Yes, Emerald?" Garnet asked, looking down at me. I could feel her eyes boring into my own through her shades.

"Thanks for letting me fuse with Pearl," I said, remembering how serene I had felt, even in the midst of a horrifying situation. "Tourmaline was a wonderful experience, even if she was a short one."

"No problem," Garnet said, looking back to the ship as Opal tried again to shoot it down. "You did well for your first combat fusion."

"Hey guys!" Steven called, rushing over to us.

"Steven!" Garnet exclaimed, shocked. The surprise of seeing Steven back at the beach caused Opal to separate back into Pearl and Amethyst, falling to the ground from the recoil of forced unfusion.

"You came back!" Amethyst cried, concerned.

"What are you doing?!" Pearl snapped, "Get out of here!"

"But-"

"It's too late!" Garnet interrupted Steven, "Just stay behind us!"

And the ship landed. A ball appeared from the palm of the hand, opening to reveal Peridot, Lapis Lazuli, and another Gem. The new Gem was tall and muscular, with white hair and orange skin that had stripes of orange-red in some places.

 _She's hot,_ I observed, looking the orange Gem up and down in appraisal.

"That's them, all right." Peridot said, pointing at us. "They're the ones who keep breaking my machines."

"This is it?" the new Gem asked, not seeing how we were a threat.

"Jasper! They keep interfering with my work!" Peridot protested.

 _All those muscles... and that hair..._ I thought, biting my lip to prevent a goofy smile from spreading across my face as Jasper stepped forward.

"Looks like another waste of my time..." she said, and I sighed internally upon hearing her husky voice. "Hey, get over here!" Jasper dragged Lapis Lazuli out from behind her. Lapis gasped upon seeing Steven.

"Lapis!" Steven cried, and I could hear the tears in his voice.

"This is their base?" Jasper asked.

"Yes..." Lapis admitted, and I saw that she didn't want to be here.

"You need to leave immediately!" Garnet yelled.

"Yeah, step off!" Amethyst growled.

"This is _not_ a Gem-controlled planet!" Pearl snapped.

The Gems jumped from their ship to the beach.

"And neither of you saw Rose Quartz?" Jasper asked, looking down at us. "Oh, what a shame. I'd hoped to meet her. I was looking forward to beating her into the ground!"

 _So evil_ _ **isn't**_ _ugly. It's_ _ **sexy!**_

"But this is all that's left of her army?" Jasper asked rhetorically. "Some lost, defective Pearl, a puny overcooked runt, a broken war machine, and _this_ shameless display?" she looked at Steven, her face twisting into confusion, "What is that?"

The Crystal Gems pulled out their weapons in preparation. I joined them, drawing my bow and getting an arrow. I could feel the tension in the air, as well as aggression that wasn't my own, and it unnerved me.

"It calls itself the Steven," Peridot replied.

"He's just a human! He isn't a threat at all! He's not one of them!" Lapis cried.

"I know what a human is. You don't need me for this. Just blast them with the ship," Jasper ordered, starting to turn away.

"Ugh, _fine_ ," Peridot said, using her screen to start the ship's blaster.

As the blaster fired, Steven jumped in front of us, forming his shield. It didn't block me entirely, and the shockwave from the blast hit me, knocking me unconscious.

x x x

When I came to, all the Gems were poofed and Steven was knocked out. All I could feel was the aggression coming from Jasper, Peridot's disinterest, and Lapis' fear.

"Now to take care of _you,_ " Jasper said, approaching me with what looked like a tazer.

"Wait!" I cried, holding my hands up in surrender. "I'll join you! Just don't hurt me!"

"This one knows where her loyalties _should_ lie," Jasper smirked, turning to Peridot for a moment before returning her gaze to me. "Okay. You'll stay with Peridot. Just don't touch anything."

"Thank you," I said, standing up and following the three onto the ship.

On the ship, the Crystal Gems' gemstones were placed into cells, each one separate. Steven and Lapis were also put into cells, and Garnet's gems were put on opposite sides of the ship.

I followed Peridot into the control room and watched as she prepared to get the ship back in the air.

"What type are your gemstones?" she asked, turning to me and inspecting the gem on my chest. "What is your weapon?"

"Emerald," I replied, feeling a blush rise up my cheeks as she put one of her fingers on my gem. "My weapon is a bow."

"Thank you, Emerald," Peridot said, removing her finger and turning back to the control panel.

X

 **(AN: Sorry for so many ANs in the recent chapters, but I feel like I need to explain my thought process.**

 **1\. Emma is** ** _very_** **gay**

 **2\. I knocked her out so she wouldn't know what the destabilizer did**

 **3\. About her surrender: her friends were unconscious, she was on the business end of a weapon that she didn't know the effects of, and she was scared for her life)**

 **(Edit: I changed Emma and Pearl's fusion to Tourmaline, as it has more colors available in case I want to fuse Emma with a different pearl.)**


	14. 12: Shaking Hands

12: Shaking Hands

X X X X

After Peridot got the ship back in the air, she got up and left the control room. I followed her, wondering where she was going.

"The Gems are regaining their forms," she said, looking at her screen. Just then, we came across Jasper, who was patrolling the halls.

"Why aren't we going anywhere?" Jasper growled as Peridot fell into step beside her, deactivating her screen. "The ship should be outside the planet's atmosphere by now!"

"We can't leave yet!" Peridot said, looking up at Jasper. "The whole point of coming here was to check on the Cluster!"

We stopped in front of a cell where a Gem was standing, singing a wordless melody. Jasper punched the wall.

"Stop singing!" she snapped at the Gem, then turned to Peridot. "Rose Quartz takes priority. Get back to the bridge and set a course for Homeworld." Peridot turned and walked back the way we came, and I followed behind.

"'Go to earth,' they said," Peridot grumbled, "'It'll be _easy,_ ' they said."

We got back to the control room, where she started entering information into the system.

While Peridot got the ship started on the course to Homeworld, I watched the security monitors as Steven freed the Gems. A red Gem and a blue Gem fused, becoming Garnet.

Garnet and Steven spoke for a minute, then Steven ran off as Jasper found Garnet and the two began to fight. Strangely, Garnet was singing while she fought.

While Garnet and Jasper fought, Steven found and freed Pearl and Amethyst. Soon after, they came into the control room.

"Emerald!" Steven cried, and I turned around to face him. Peridot turned as well, standing up and grabbing a tazer from the control panel.

"Emerald betrayed you," Peridot said, smirking at Steven as his face fell. She swung the tazer and hit him with it, but he wasn't affected. He grabbed it, yanking it out of her hand and breaking it. Amethyst tied Peridot up with her whip, and Pearl came over to me, drawing her spear.

"I never betrayed the Crystal Gems," I said, dropping to my knees with my hands raised. "I let them think I did, but I could never betray my friends."

"Good," Pearl said, dismissing her spear and sitting down in Peridot's chair to maneuver the ship back down to Earth.

"Don't touch that! You clods don't know what you're doing!" Peridot cried, wriggling in her bonds.

"You got this, Pearl!" Amethyst said, giving Pearl a thumbs-up with her free hand.

"Okay, ship. Turn us around!" Pearl said, sticking her hands into the control panel. Her eyes flashed with lines of data as she started interacting with the ship. I looked back to the security monitor and saw Garnet and Jasper still fighting. Jasper dove at Garnet, causing both of them to fall through the deck and into the engine room. They continued to fight until Garnet caught Jasper and threw her into the main power source, causing it to explode. The ship rocked with the explosion, and we started rapidly falling towards earth.

Disoriented by the explosion, Amethyst let go of her whip, allowing Peridot to crawl away and activate an escape pod by slamming her face against the floor. Amethyst dove to catch the pod, but she was too late and she fell flat on the ground. We watched out the window as the ship continued freefall, and Garnet entered the room.

"Garnet!" Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven cried in unison.

"This ship is going down!" Garnet said, and I rolled my eyes at the obviousness of her statement.

"What about Lapis?" Steven asked.

"There's no time!" Garnet answered.

The ship came to rest on the side of the hill containing the Temple, then exploded. Luckily, Steven had enclosed us in his bubble right before the explosion, protecting us. Lion blasted the rubble, allowing Steven to disperse the bubble.

"Nice one," Garnet said to Steven, who turned to her in awe.

"Oh my gosh! I can't believe you're a fusion all the time!" he gushed excitedly.

"You met Ruby and Sapphire?!" Amethyst asked, and Pearl's face fell.

"Oh no! We were going to introduce you," Pearl said, "Garnet, your plan!"

"We were waiting for your birthday," Garnet told Steven, who got more excited.

"We can still do it!" he said. "I'll just pretend I didn't know!"

Amethyst chuckled, and a hand reached up through the rubble. Jasper climbed out from the burning wreckage of the ship.

"Ugh! Ahh..." she fell to her knees "Don't think you've won. You only beat me cause you're a fusion! If I had someone to fuse with, I'd-" The rubble shifted, and Lapis emerged, attempting to flee. "Come here, brat! Ah, don't fly off so soon."

"Lapis!" Steven cried, attempting to run over to her, but Pearl and Amethyst stopped him.

"Lapis, listen, fuse with me!" Jasper said.

"What?!" Lapis asked, shocked.

"How long did they keep you trapped here on this miserable hunk of rock?" Jasper asked, dropping Lapis. "These Gems, they're traitors to their Homeworld. They kept you prisoner. They used you. This is your chance to take revenge! Come on, just say yes."

"Lapis, don't do it!" Steven cried. Lapis offered her hand to Jasper, who took it with an evil grin. They danced, fusing into a monstrous green being. The fusion had six arms and no legs, instead using the bottom two pairs of arms as legs.

The fusion cackled, raising her arm and summoning a water arm from the ocean. Suddenly, the water arm grabbed her arm and became a shackle.

"Huh?" the fusion questioned as another arm came from the ocean, taking her other arm and forming another shackle. "What?" Water chains appeared, wrapping around her torso and neck. "Ughh!" The water started dragging her into the ocean.

"What are you doing?" the fusion asked in Jasper's voice.

"I'm done being everyone's prisoner. Now you're _my_ prisoner!" Lapis' voice replied. "And I'm _never letting you go!_ "

Two more water-arms came up and grabbed the fusion's back leg-arms, pulling her into the water until only her head was visible. Her face briefly split into Lapis and Jasper's faces, but pulled back together.

"Let's stay on this miserable planet... _together!_ " Lapis' voice cried, and the fusion disappeared into the ocean.

"Yikes. They are _really_ bad for each other," Garnet said, and Steven's phone started ringing.

"Um... Hello?" Steven answered the phone.


	15. 13: We Need to Talk

13: We Need to Talk

X X X X

"That could have gone... a lot worse," Pearl said, smiling as she looked out at the ocean.

"Could have gone a lot _better_ , too," Garnet said, looking back at the Temple.

"WE WON!" Amethyst cried, picking Steven up and twirling him around. "Wooohoooo! Ye-he-he-he!" She ruffled Steven's hair playfully.

"Connie! You're not going to believe what happened," Steven said into his phone. "Where do I even start?!"

"I see you, P!" Amethyst said, going over to Pearl.

"It's been a madhouse over here," Steven said. Amethyst hugged Pearl in an over-exaggerated fashion.

"Amethyst!" Pearl said, exasperated. "That's enough celebrating." Greg came over in his van, calling for Steven.

" _Dad!_ " Steven called back, then turned to his phone. "Connie, I-I have to go. I promise I'll call you back." He hung up and turned to his dad. "Dad's back! Dad's back!" Steven ran over to Greg, who ran to Steven.

"Oh! Thank goodness you're okay!" Greg said, pulling Steven into a hug. "I saw the spaceship start to leave and then it crashed so I came back and... ohh" he saw Steven's black eye "your eye... But you're okay! I guess those jerks were no match for the Crystal Gems!"

"No way, they were super strong!" Steven said.

"But you were able to beat them back?" Greg pressed.

"No. They totally _stomped_ us!" Steven replied, and I groaned, knowing that the real story was the _exact opposite_ of what Greg wanted to hear, but Steven was gonna tell it anyway. "This warrior, Jasper, was super beefy and knocked me unconscious. They abducted me onto the ship because they wanted to take me away forever. And then we crashed and the ship exploded and I almost died!"

"What did they want with you?" Greg asked, panicked.

"They think I'm Mom," Steven said, and I recalled how Jasper said that Rose Quartz was the top priority.

"A-are more Homeworld Gems gonna come after you?" Greg stammered.

"I... uh... I don't know," Steven replied. "Maybe?"

 _But we defeated them in the end! Jasper is trapped at the bottom of the ocean with Lapis Lazuli, and Peridot is... somewhere..._ I thought, attempting to reassure myself with what I wanted to say to Greg. It didn't work.

x x x

The next morning, I sat on the head of the Temple, watching as people trickled back into the city. Steven was on the hill on the other side of town, pacing and talking to himself. He stopped, turned, and looked at the broken ship.

As I watched Steven, Ronaldo walked up the hill and stood with him. They had a conversation, then Ronaldo spotted the wreckage of the ship and ran off, most likely to get pictures of the wreckage for his blog. Steven sat down on the hill and started singing to himself. Somehow, I could hear it, even from all the way across town.

"Everybody told me Gem stuff's dangerous; I guess I didn't believe them. Until now, Dad always seemed apprehensive; and now he's really freaking out, what do I do? I don't want that for you." Steven's phone started ringing, adding a new depth to the song. "Everybody tells me life is precious on the planet Earth; and that means you, and I have to protect you. What if somehow you get hurt, what do I do? I don't want that for you." His phone rang again, and he hummed along with it for a while. "What am I going to tell you? You're better off not knowing the trouble I'm in. I don't want you to worry; about what I've just seen, about where I've just been. You don't have to be a part of this; I don't think I want you to be. You don't need this. You don't need me." Steven started humming again, and I stopped listening.

I looked down to the wreckage of the ship and saw Ronaldo snapping pictures with his phone. Making a decision, I leapt off the head of the Temple, landing on the beach next to him.

"Emma! What are you doing here?" Ronaldo asked, looking up at me in surprise. "Where did you come from?"

"What did you tell Steven?" I asked, getting straight to the point. "I saw you talking to him."

"I gave him some advice," Ronaldo replied, continuing to take pictures of the wreckage. "Said that us aficionados of the weird have a duty to let the simple people live their simple lives, without ever knowing the burden of being friends with us."

"You told him that he's better off alone?" I probed, getting annoyed with the guy. "Steakfries, a kid like Steven _needs_ friends. He's up there _moping._ Steven's gonna isolate himself from his friends now, because of _you!_ "

"Yeah, that's what I told him," Ronaldo said, turning and snapping a picture of me next to a piece of the ship.

" _That's it!_ " I snapped, ripping the phone out of his hands and snapping it in half, bubbling the pieces and warping them to the Temple. " _You_ may be better off alone, but Steven _isn't!_ "

"My phone!" Ronaldo cried, tears forming in his eyes.

"That's karma for you!" I said, turning around and walking up to the house.

x x x

A few hours later, I watched from the head of the Temple as Steven told Connie what happened.

 _Thank goodness Steven saw sense,_ I thought, smiling as I climbed down to the laundry hand and warped inside, entering the Temple. I walked into Garnet's room, where I had sent the bubble containing Ronaldo's phone, and grabbed the bubble. Holding it over a pool of lava, I popped the bubble, allowing the phone bits to fall into the molten rock and melt.

 _And thank goodness for lava!_

X

 **(AN: I know that it's highly improbable that Emma could hear Steven from across town, but it needed to happen like that. And yes, Emma blames Ronaldo for Steven almost dropping Connie from his life. I blame Ronaldo too.**

 **Breaking Ronaldo's phone and dropping it in lava might have been a bit much, but he was being a twit.)**


	16. 14: Steven's Knight

14: Steven's Knight

X X X X

"You want me to do _what?_ " I heard Pearl say from the living room. My curiosity piqued, I got up and left my room to see what was going on. Most likely, Amethyst was trying to get Pearl to eat something.

"You should teach Connie to sword fight, she's already so good!" Steven said. He stood in front of Pearl, Connie standing beside him.

" _Steven!_ " Connie said, blushing.

"But you are! You helped me fight the robot floaty-thing," Steven said to her, then turned back to Pearl, "she took down that evil clone of herself, uh... those mean seagulls just now..."

"You're awfully young to begin something like this," Pearl said, and I drew a breath to sigh in relief, but she continued speaking. "But, I suppose I was only a few thousand years old when I began fighting alongside Rose Quartz."

 _No, please say no, she's like ten, she can't learn to swordfight,_ I pleaded internally. Connie raised her hand.

"Yes, Connie?" Pearl asked.

"Please, I wanna learn! I mean, I don't know what'll happen in the future, but if something dangerous comes along, I don't wanna be a burden, I wanna help!" Connie said, blushing. "I wanna be there for Steven, to fight by his side! The Earth is my home  
too, can't I help protect it?"

 _Kids these days with their delusions of nobility..._ I thought, looking to Pearl, who was almost crying with joy.

"Oh... Okay!" she wiped away her tears and stood up. "If that's how you feel, we should get started!" Pearl started over to the Warp Pad, Steven following with a whoop of excitement. Connie followed reluctantly, and I snuck on just before they warped  
away.

We arrived at the Sky Arena where I learned to summon my bow and Pearl, Steven, and Connie went to the main arena together. I waited until they were out of sight to follow.

"This is an ancient Sky Arena, Connie, where some of the first battles for Earth took place. It was here that I became familiar with the human concept of being a knight, completely dedicated to a person and a cause," Pearl explained, turning to Connie  
and giving her a sword. "This is what you must become, Connie; brave, selfless, loyal... a knight! We begin with a bow, first to me, your teacher." Pearl bowed to Connie, who gave a small bow in return. "And now again, to your liege." Connie turned  
to Steven and knelt in front of him.

"My liege." she said to him.

"Miss Knight," Steven said in return, setting off a bout of quiet giggles between the two.

 _ **Completely dedicated**_ , I thought, concealing myself behind a fallen pillar to observe the proceedings. _That sounds more like a nun or monk than a knight. Or a monk-knight, like the Knights Templar..._

"I hope you two are taking this seriously," Pearl said, having heard their giggling.

"Yes, ma'am!" Connie said, straightening up and turning back to Pearl.

"Mmhm, mmhm," Steven agreed with a nod.

Pearl's gem glowed, summoning Holo-Pearl.

"Cool, hologram Pearl!" Connie cheered.

"To begin, this Holo-Pearl will be your opponent," Pearl said, and a sword formed in Holo-Pearl's hands.

"Level 0, beginner, set," Holo-Pearl said. "Do you wish to engage in combat?"

"Yes!" Connie said, excited. Steven's gem glowed, and a large bubble suddenly formed around the kids. "Steven?"

"Hm? Oh! I-I'm sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry," Steven said, dispersing the bubble with a nervous laugh. "Reflex. Uh, you just be careful, and I will go over here." Steven walked over toward the stands next to where I hid, nervous.

Pearl moved to Connie and placed her right hand on Connie's sword arm, guiding its movement, and her left hand on Connie's shoulder. "Alright, everything begins with your stance."

Holo-Pearl walked up to them and crossed swords. Pearl began to sing.

"Remember:

 _"You do it for him_

 _And you would do it again_

 _You do it for her, that is to say_

 _You'll do it for him._

 _Keep your stance wide,_

 _Keep your body lowered,_

 _As you're moving forward_

 _Balance is the key_

 _Right foot; left foot,_

 _Now go even faster_

 _And as you're moving backwards_

 _Keep your eyes on me."_

It was the next day, and Connie was practicing against Pearl. Connie was singing as well.

" _Keep my stance wide,_ " ("Good" commented Pearl)

" _Keep my body lowered,_ " ("Right")

" _As I'm moving forward_ "

" _Concentrate! Don't you want him to live?!_ " Pearl chipped in.

x x

( _Connie_ )

( _ **Pearl**_ )

( _Both_ )

(action)

 _Right foot; left foot_

 _ **Yes, but put your whole body into it!**_

 _ **Everything you have, everything you are**_

 _ **You've got to give-**_

About a week had passed since the beginning of Connie's training. That day, Pearl was showing a memory of her fighting alongside Rose in the War for Earth.

 _ **On the battlefield**_

 _ **When everything is chaos,**_

 _ **And you have nothing but the way you feel, your strategy and a sword;**_

 _ **You just think about the life you'll have together after the war!**_

A few days later, they were training. Connie's hand had become blistered from use, and Pearl had wrapped her hand with bandages.

 _ **And then you do it for her,**_

 _ **That's how you know you can win,**_

 _ **You do it for her, that is to say**_

 _ **You'll do it for him.**_

 _ **Deep down, you know,**_

 _ **You weren't built for fighting,**_

 _ **But that doesn't mean**_

 _ **You're not prepared to try.**_

 _ **What they don't know**_

 _ **Is your real advantage,**_

 _ **When you live for someone**_

 _ **You're prepared to die.**_

"That's it," I muttered, turning and leaving the arena. Their training session would end in a minute anyway, so I knew I wouldn't miss any of their song. "Pearl, you can't instill that kind of mindset into a kid!"

"'Sup, Em?" Amethyst asked as I stormed through the house to my room.

"Pearl is teaching Connie to sword fight," I said, stopping to talk to her. "And I just heard her say 'when you live for someone, you're prepared to die'. She said that to _Connie._ Pearl is telling a _kid_ that they're _expendable._ That  
their life's worth is _another person!_ "

"That's not good," Garnet said from just outside the Temple door. "But it'll be okay. Steven'll fix it soon enough."

" _Good_ ," I growled, storming into my room and flopping down on my bed.

The next day, Steven hadn't fixed anything, and the training continued. As did the song.

 _Deep down, I know,_

 _That I'm just a human_ _ **(True)**_

 _But I know that I can draw my sword and fight_

 _With my short existence,_ _ **(Good)**_

 _I can make a difference,_ _ **(Yes, excellent!)**_

 _I can be there for him_

 _I can be his knight_

 _I can do it for him,_

 _You do it for her_

 _ **Okay, now do that again**_ _(Yes, ma'am.)_

 _ **You do it for her, and now you say:**_

" _I'll do it for him,_ " Connie finished the song, kneeling before Steven along with Pearl. Steven looked extremely uncomfortable.

 _Good, he's gonna fix this soon,_ I thought, a grim look crossing my face.

x x

The next day, Steven was on the couch reading _How to Talk to People_. He looked apprehensive, most likely due to the fact that the book was horribly written. Connie opened the door to the house and entered, a gym bag slung over her shoulder. I  
walked into my room, not wanting to witness the potentially aggressive confrontation.

A minute later, I heard the Warp Pad activate, and I poked my head out of my room to find Steven standing by the counter, looking defeated.

Suddenly, the door to Amethyst's room opened, and Amethyst and Garnet walked out. Amethyst was laughing hysterically.

"Wow, Garnet, that was the funniest thing I've ever heard!" Amethyst said.

"Garnet, master of comedy," Garnet said. The two walked onto the Warp Pad, but they stopped when they noticed Steven.

"Yo, Steven," Amethyst said, " _Why are you standing there all sad like that?!_ "

"W-well, Connie is taking sword fighting lessons from Pearl, but I think it's getting a little too serious," Steven explained. "She wants Connie to do all this dangerous stuff for me."

Amethyst and Garnet looked at each other, concerned.

"That makes sense," Garnet said after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Steven asked, confused. Garnet walked over and sat down on the couch with Steven.

"Back during the war, Pearl took pride in risking her destruction for your mother," Garnet explained. "She put Rose Quartz over everything; over logic, over consequence, over her own life."

I watched as Steven's expression became shocked and worried, then as he jumped up from the couch.

"You okay, dude?" Amethyst asked, leaning against the wall near the Warp Pad.

"I... have... to DO SOMETHING!" Steven cried, pushing past the Gems and onto the Warp Pad, warping away to the Arena.

" _Finally,_ he's going to fix all this!" I said, relieved. "Connie won't die for him, Pearl will see _sense_... And I won't have to stalk them to the lessons any more!"

"Uh, what?"


	17. 15: The Interview

15: The Interview

X X X X

One Friday in June, probably a month after the encounter with Peridot and Jasper, I walked from the beach house to Beach Citywalk Fries.

"Hey, Emma," Peedee greeted from behind the counter. "You here for some fries?"

"No. Thank you, though," I said, looking behind him into the shop. "Ronaldo wanted me to meet him here. Said something about a 'documentary' for his blog."

"Oh, he's at the lighthouse," Peedee said, gesturing back the way I had come from. "That's where he keeps all his weird stuff."

"Oh, okay," I said, nodding to myself. "Thanks, Peedee. See you, I guess."

"See you," he said, giving a small wave as I turned and walked to the lighthouse.

Once I got to the lighthouse, I walked in the open door and headed up the steps.

"Steakfries, I'm here," I called as I climbed the steps. "You could've told me to meet you _here_ instead of at the shop, spared me from walking all the way through town and all the way back here."

"The shop is on your way here, isn't it?" Ronaldo called back. "Don't you live over by the brooding hill?"

I got to the top of the steps just then and looked around the room, finding a desk chair and camera equipment set up, along with a laptop and a desk with another chair.

"Uh, no, I live with Steven and the Crystal Gems," I replied, finding Ronaldo digging through a pile of junk. He wore a blazer over his usual outfit, suggesting that he was about ready to start filming his documentary.

" _What?!_ " Ronaldo cried, standing up and turning to face me. "Why do you live with _them?_ "

"I'm part-Gem," I said, pulling the collar of my shirt down slightly to reveal the gemstone on my chest, then turning around and pulling my hair over my shoulder to show the gemstone on my neck. "Two-thirds Gem and one-third human, to be exact."

" _That_ explains the four-armed thing!" he said to himself, leaning back over the pile of junk and searching for something. "I have a new idea!"

"What?" I asked, confused. "Are you gonna need me for this 'new idea'?"

"You can give an _interview!_ " Ronaldo cried, holding up a beat-up cell phone. "Just let me call Peedee so he can do the camera work."

"Your brother's working right now," I told him, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe we could do the interview tomorrow? I'll do the camera today for some stuff, then Peedee could do the camera tomorrow when he's not working."

"I guess that works..." Ronaldo said, defeated.

x x x

The next day, I got up at nine, which was early for me. Usually I slept till eleven, unless the Gems woke me up earlier for a mission.

As I got out of bed, I checked my phone to see if Ronaldo had texted me. He hadn't, which meant that our plan didn't need to be revised.

Shuffling over to the closet, I rubbed my eyes absently, contemplating potential outfits. In the end, I decided on a green and black striped polo shirt and gray pants with my usual black loafers.

"Where are you going so early?" Pearl asked as I walked through the house to leave.

"Ronaldo is filming a 'documentary'," I replied, stopping and turning to talk to her. "It started out with the hand ship fiasco, then it turned into an expose' on the Gems. He wants me to give an interview about Gem stuff."

"Oh, that sounds fun," Pearl said, turning back to the sandwiches she was making. "Be back at a reasonable time, okay?"

"Yeah," I said, walking over and grabbing some sandwiches from the large pyramid she had created. I took a bite of one, turned around, and left. "I'll be back by dusk at the latest. See you!"

Once I left the house, I bubbled the sandwiches, testing the bubble to make sure it wouldn't pop if I squeezed it. I tucked the bubble under my arm and leapt up onto the Laundry Hand, gaining my bearings before jumping up onto the head of the Temple. From there, I took a running leap onto the hill, barely making the jump.

"That was fun," I muttered, walking to the lighthouse and entering.

"Steakfries, you up there?" I called, starting up the staircase.

"Yeah," he called back, and I heard him moving around on the top floor along with someone else. "Peedee's here too."

"Hey," Peedee called in greeting.

"I brought food," I said as I got to the top floor of the lighthouse. "Pearl was making a _mountain_ of sandwiches, so I took a couple dozen. Ham, cheese, mayonnaise, and some of them have lettuce."

"Great!" Ronaldo said, shuffling a few pieces of paper in his hands as he surveyed the room. "Oh! The other chair!" He set down the papers and rushed to the other side of the room, grabbing the desk chair and setting it down by the desk and the other chair. "There. Perfect!"

"He was up till two o'clock writing questions," Peedee told me, coming over to stand beside me and watch his brother fluttering around, rearranging everything. "And he came here at _six_ to start setting up."

"How much sleep did you _get,_ Steakfries?" I asked, looking over to the junk pile that Ronaldo was half-buried in. "Three and a half hours?"

"Something like that," he replied, emerging from the junk with a hunk of green metal in his hands. "I got this from the crash site after you broke my phone."

"What are we going to do with _that?_ " I asked, raising an eyebrow. I walked over to the desk and set the bubble down, popping it and releasing the sandwiches.

"Props! Props are important to _any_ video," Ronaldo said, moving to sit in the desk chair. He set the bit of hand-ship on the floor next to him and gestured for me to sit down. "Ready when you are, Emma!"

"I've been ready since I got here," I jibed, sitting down in the other chair. "Peedee, the camera?"

"Got it right here!" he replied, holding up the camera as he moved to put it on the tripod. "And... Action!"

x x

( _Ronaldo_ )

( **Emma** )

(action)

 _Good morning. Would you please introduce yourself to our audience?_

 **Good morning to you, too. I'm Emma Smith.**

 _What relation do you have to the Crystal Gems, Emma?_

 **Well, I'm part-Gem. Two-thirds Gem and one-third human, to be exact.**

 _What type of stone are your gems, if you don't mind me asking?_

 **Both are emeralds. In fact, my full first name is Emerald, but most people just call me Emma.**

 _That's interesting. And where are your gems located?_

 **One is here on my chest,** I unbuttoned my shirt a bit farther and pulled it aside to reveal my gemstone, **and the other is on the back of my neck,** I turned my back to the camera and pulled aside my hair to show my other gemstone.

 _Very interesting... Do you have any special abilities as a Gem?_

 **I can summon my weapon, which is a bow and arrows; I can also create bubbles to contain objects, jump large heights, and I have strength far greater than the average human.**

 _Good, good. Now, to our main topic: what role did you play in the ordeal with the space hand?_

 **I, along with the Crystal Gems, attempted to destroy the ship before it landed. When we failed to do that, we were taken captive on the ship, but managed to break free. We fought our captors and eventually got the ship back to Earth, where it exploded.**

 _But you survived the explosion?_

 **Of** ** _course_** **I survived the explosion, I'm sitting right here in front of you! But yeah, we came out alright, if not a bit banged up. Steven shielded us with a bubble when the ship exploded, so we weren't hurt by that.**

 _I managed to get a piece of shrapnel before it was removed from the beach. Will you confirm that this is, indeed, a portion of the space hand?_ Ronaldo picked up the bit of ship from beside his chair and handed it to me. I took it and pretended to examine it for a few seconds, turning it over in my hands and running my fingers over the metal.

 **Yes, this is a piece of the hand ship. It most likely came from the exterior, judging by the dark green of the metal. The interior was a lighter green than this.**

 _Hmm. So, Emerald, did you know that the presence of the Crystal Gems is attracting the attacks of dangerous space beings?_

 **Um, I'd never thought of it that way, but I guess those things could be related... I mean, I see it as being part of living with the Gems. There are monsters, and we fight them.**

 _So if the Crystal Gems weren't here, there wouldn't be monsters attacking us?_

 **Eh, probably not. I mean, this is just where they set up shop, so to say. The Gems were here long before Beach City was even a** ** _thing_** **, according to Pearl.**

 _I have asked various citizens of Beach City what they think of the danger that the Crystal Gems attract, and they were all shocked. Scandalized, even!_

 **You never told me that this interview was gonna go in this direction, Steakfries.**

 _Well, this is all information that I gathered from previous filming!_

 **Not with me, you didn't.**

 _I went out and filmed some more after you left, okay?_

 **I really don't care that you filmed without me. This is** ** _your_** **pet project, not mine. Anyway! You really shouldn't go jumping to conclusions, Steakfries; you can't jump all that high as it is.**

 _Hey, you don't know how high I can jump!_

 **You're right, I don't. But I'm sure I can jump a** ** _lot_** **higher than you can.**

 _Wanna bet?_

 **Not really... Okay, back to the interview.**

 _That's all the questions I had. Thank you for giving your time for this, Emma._ Ronaldo paused for a few seconds, then gestured for Peedee to stop filming.

x x

"Thanks for filming, little bro," Ronaldo said, standing up and grabbing a sandwich from the desk. "Emma and I can take it from here."

"No prob," Peedee said, setting the camera on the desk and taking a few sandwiches before leaving, calling "See you later!" as he disappeared down the steps.

"See ya," I called after him. I picked up a sandwich and started eating it, relieved to be done with the interview. "So, Steakfries, what are we gonna do?"

"There are some special effects and other clips I need to get done, and I was hoping that you could film one of them," he replied, setting his sandwich back down on the desk and standing up. "We need to go to the beach for that one. After that, the only stuff is on my end. Can you bring the sandwiches?" And he started down the steps.

"Yeah, I can," I replied, rolling my eyes as I bubbled the sandwiches, keeping his sandwich on top of the pile. I tucked the bubble under my arm and grabbed the camera, walking out on the balcony of the lighthouse and jumping down to the ground.

"How'd you get down here so fast?" Ronaldo asked upon exiting the lighthouse and spotting me waiting for him there.

"I jumped," I replied, gesturing up to the balcony. "I told you I can jump farther than regular humans."

"Oh, yeah," he said, then he started down the hill. "Come on!"

"Coming," I said, walking down the hill behind him.

x x x

That night, I was on the beach with Steven and the Gems, fighting a giant one-eyed crab monster. Steven and Amethyst had been flung over by some rocks, and I heard Steven talking to someone while Amethyst ran back to the fight.

"You guys should be careful-"

"CUT THE PLEASANTRIES!" Ronaldo interjected, running over to us. Peedee followed behind with the camera. "You're all a danger to our city!"

"What are you talking about?" Steven asked, following them.

"PEARL! NOW!" Garnet shouted, and I turned back to the fighting to see Pearl blasting the crab monster with energy shots from her spear.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOh my gosh. What the heck is that?" Peedee said, gaping up at the monster.

"Pearl, _NOW!_ " Garnet shouted, and Pearl blasted the crab monster again. "Aim for the eye!"

"Aye-aye, Garnet!" Pearl replied, and I rolled my eyes at the possible pun usage. "Where's Amethyst?"

"Right here!" Amethyst replied, using her hair to slash off the claw of the monster.

"Let's finish the job!" Garnet said.

"This is exactly the thing I'm talking about, Steven!" Ronaldo said, and I looked over to see Peedee filming Ronaldo yelling at Steven.

"But the Crystal Gems are here to help people!" Steven replied, looking a bit troubled.

"But all the monsters just come here to get you guys, and then wreck things and put us in danger!" Ronaldo said, glaring down at Steven. "Beach City would be _way_ safer if you guys weren't here!"

Back in the fight, the Gems had managed to poof the monster and bubbled its gem back to the Temple.

"Listen, Frybo, magic beings are indeed drawn to us, _but_ we were here long before Beach City even existed," Pearl said matter-of-factly, and I gave a small smile, hoping that her reasoning would dissipate Ronaldo's delusions of valor.

"Who cares how long you've been here?" he cried, and I sighed as my hopes were dashed. "Innocent people are in danger as long as you're hanging around!"

"You're right, I guess we'll just leave then," Garnet said, and we turned to her in shock.

"Excuse me?" Pearl asked, confused.

"Really?" Amethyst asked, disappointed.

"But, Garnet!" Steven said, saddened by her decision.

"Put your buts away, Steven," Garnet said, picking Steven up and putting him on top of her hair, "we're not wanted here, so let's just leave."

"But Garnet, we'll have to move all the bubbles, a-and what about Steven's things?" Pearl asked, worrying about what would happen to our possessions if we left.

"Maaaaaaan, ugh, I kinda liked it here!" Amethyst groaned, her head falling back in frustration.

"And I've just about perfected my room," I said, grimacing. "Look what you did, Steakfries!"

x x x

The next day, I sat on the couch eating a sandwich when I heard odd noises from outside the house.

"THIS IS A MATTER OF WEIRD AND DEATH!" Ronaldo cried, and I stood up, moving toward the window and watching as Ronaldo and Peedee running toward the house, Peedee holding the camera. They raced up the stairs and Ronaldo started banging on the door and shouting.

"CRYSTAL GEMS! You have to stay! Every messed up consequence of your presence gives me reason to wake up in the morning!" Ronaldo cried, falling to his knees as he continued to bang on the door. "Without you, my blog doesn't stand a chance! Ah, I'm too late, what have I done? I've made Beach City _NORMAL!_ " he started crying as he rambled "I've broken my promise to the city, and to myself!"

While he had been rambling, Garnet had emerged from the Temple. Once Ronaldo stopped talking, she opened the door.

"Ooooooooooh, you're still here! Please don't leave! I was wrong, stay and keep this town weird!" Ronaldo plead. I moved to I could see Garnet's face in order to see how she reacted.

"Okay," Garnet said calmly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Ronaldo sobbed, his sobbing turning to maniacal laughing after a minute.

x x x

A week later, Ronaldo posted his documentary on TubeTube, and the Crystal Gems, Steven, and I watched it.

 _"... In the end, I suppose the Gems really do save Beach City - from being not weird! Okay, Peedee, I think that about wraps it up! Good job with the camera, bro!"_

 _"Oh, thanks!"_

The video cut to the credits, and I looked over at the others to see their reactions.

"That was very poorly edited," Garnet said, and I nodded my agreement.

"Were we really gonna leave Beach City?" Steven asked, still worried about that possibility.

"No, I just wanted him to get that camera out of my face," Garnet replied, and Steven beamed.

"I wonder how many people have seen this thing?" Pearl asked, looking around the screen confusedly.

"Oh," Amethyst laughed, "I think we're the only ones, see?" she pointed to the view count, which showed only one view.

"Hm, click!" Steven said, clicking "Like" on the video.

X

 **(AN: I know it probably doesn't make sense for Ronaldo not to have known that Emma was a Gem after fusing with her, but he probably thought it was the Sneople or something. Yeah.)**


	18. 16: Blue Moon

16: Blue Moon

X X X X

"Ughhh," I groaned, rolling over in bed and massaging my temples in an attempt to ease my growing headache. "Whyyy?"

For the past few days, I had suffered a massive headache as voices that weren't my own buzzed around my head, and my mood had changed with the people around me.

After a few minutes of complaining to myself, I rolled out of bed and grabbed a bottle of Modril from the nightstand. I opened the bottle, pouring three pills into my hand and leaving the room in search of a drink.

 _What's going on with Emma?_

"Hey, Emma, are you okay?" Connie asked from the counter.

"When did you get here?" I asked, turning around and squinting at her momentarily before turning back to the fridge.

 _I've been here for two hours... How doesn't she know that?_

"A little while ago," Connie replied, watching as I got out a jug of orange juice and poured myself a glass. "What's going on?"

"Aah, I've just got a headache," I said, pausing to take my pills. "For some reason, I seem to get headaches for about a week every month." I decided to leave out the part about hearing voices in my head and feeling odd emotions, since that would likely convince her that I was crazy.

"That's odd," she said, leaning onto the counter. "Do you know where Steven is?"

"The Gems left for a mission yesterday," I replied, then spun around and asked, "why have you been here for two hours when Steven isn't here?"

"I didn't say that," Connie said, confused.

"I clearly heard you say, and I quote, 'I've been here for two hours, how doesn't she know that?'," I replied, giving the girl a critical look. "Right before you said 'a little while ago', and after I asked when you got here."

"I _thought_ that, but I didn't _say_ it," Connie corrected, confusing me.

"So you're implying that I heard your thoughts," I said, walking to the couch and sitting down. "That would explain the voices in my head, but still..."

"Voices in your head?" she asked, coming to sit down next to me. With her came a feeling of intense curiosity that made my headache worse.

"Yeah," I replied, massaging my temples in a futile effort to reduce my headache. "Along with emotions that aren't my own."

"Maybe it's a Gem power," Connie suggested, and I looked over at her, skeptical.

"The Gems never said anything about me potentially having mind powers," I said, thinking back on the events of the past year. "Then again, the past few months have been _quite_ hectic, so they just might not have gotten around to it."

Suddenly, Connie's phone started ringing. She answered it, and I leaned back into the couch, letting my mind wander.

 _"Ugh, Mom, I know you're concerned, but I'm fine..."_

 _That's Connie,_ I thought, then I noticed another voice.

 _"I can't believe TubeTube took down my video! I worked_ _ **so**_ _hard on that!"_

x x x

Two weeks later, my headache finally let up. The Gems weren't back from their mission, which worried me.

"Emma?" Connie called through the house as she entered. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better," I replied, looking up from my phone at her. She came and sat on the couch next to me, and I gave a small sigh of relief as I wasn't flooded with concern in her presence. "The voices are quieter, and I only feel my own emotions."

"I thought you only got headaches for _one_ week a month," Connie said, confused. "This month, it's been two weeks."

"From what I can remember, the headaches coincide with the full moon," I replied, adding, "Ronaldo said something about this month being a blue moon, so maybe that's what's causing the extended suffering."

"That makes sense," Connie said, leaning back into the couch and thinking. "Why would it stop today, though?"

"I think it's the new moon today," I said, half-remembering my repeated internet searches on the moon phases for the month. "And if it's only let up today, then it'll be right back tomorrow."

"That isn't good," she said, reaching to the pocket where she kept her phone. "My mom is a doctor. If you talk to her, you might be able to get stronger pain medication."

"Can you imagine how that would go, though?" I asked, looking at her incredulously. "Hey, I get terrible headaches around the full moon, and I think it's because I can read minds. No, I'm not crazy, I'm a magical part-alien. Can you please give me drugs?"

"Hopefully it wouldn't go like _that_ ," Connie laughed. "But I see what you mean."

For the next few hours, we hung out in the house and on the beach, enjoying the nice July afternoon.

x x x

The last day of the month, my headache was the worst I could ever remember having.

 _I hope the Gems get back soon_.

"So do I," I agreed, not caring that Connie hadn't actually spoken. She didn't care either, having gotten used to me responding to unspoken statements. "They've been gone for a month."

Suddenly, the Warp Pad activated. I turned toward it, concerned that it was Peridot invading the Temple.

Luckily, it was the Gems. They had _finally_ returned from their mission.

"Okay, _what_ took you guys so long?" I asked, approaching them. I felt confusion radiating off then, accompanied with a twinge of guilt.

"Oh, gosh, we're _so_ sorry!" Pearl said, stepping off the Warp Pad and walking over to stand in front of me. "I didn't think you had inherited those powers!"

 _What powers? - I told Pearl that Emerald wouldn't be happy with our prolonged absence. But she didn't believe me. - I hope Em left some good stuff in the fridge..._

"What powers?" I asked, grimacing as her guilt and concern overwhelmed me.

"Telepathy and empathy," she replied, and I raised an eyebrow, not quite understanding in my current state.

"Your mother could hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of others," Garnet explained, continuing, "she could also communicate through thought and project emotion onto others. Your power seems to fluctuate with the phases of the moon."

"So I can control this," I said, and Garnet nodded in confirmation. "Good. Now, I'm going to sleep for as long as possible in the hopes of sleeping through the near-constant headache."

"Okay."

 _More food for me, then. Heh._

X

 **(AN: Multiple things to address!**

 **1\. Modril is a made-up brand name for ibuprofen [portmanteau of Motrin and Advil, two IRL brand names]**

 **2\. This is how Emma was able to transfer the memories in the "Too Many Stevens" chapter**

 **3\. Only the fusion Emerald had both telepathy and empathy. The separate Emeralds had one or the other.**

 **Thanks for reading!)**


	19. 17: Communication Breakdown

17: Communication Breakdown

X X X X

One day, probably three months after the hand ship ordeal, I was sitting in my room on my laptop when I heard thudding from above me. I stood up and left my room, going up the steps to where Steven and Amethyst were watching TV.

"How about now?" Amethyst asked from beside the TV, setting her foot back on the floor. The set started vibrating, which worried me.

"It's never done that before," Steven said, surprised. Suddenly, a glitched video of Peridot saying gibberish appeared, then the video stabilized and her words became intelligible.

"This is Peridot transmitting on all frequencies from abandoned crystal system colony planet Earth, to Yellow Diamond. My mission has been compromised, my escort _and_ informant are gone and I am now stranded! Please send help!" she sounded extremely desperate toward the end, and once her message was done, the video repeated. By the time the first repeat started, all the Crystal Gems were watching, and Steven was on the phone.

"Okay, thanks," Steven said, hanging up the phone. "Connie says it's on her TV too."

"But where could Peridot be broadcasting a signal that strong?" Pearl asked, confused.

"There's only one place," Garnet replied.

x x x

Ten minutes later, we rode Lion through a portal to the Communication Hub. Once we arrived, Lion dropped to the ground and Steven popped out of his mane, gasping for air.

"Lion, are you okay?" Steven asked, petting the big cat on the head.

"It's as I feared," Garnet said. I turned around and saw that the Communication Hub was glowing and shooting a beam on light to the sky.

"It looks like Peridot somehow repaired the Communication Hub. Well, at least some of it," Pearl said.

"So... we just gotta wreck it up again, right?" Steven asked, turning to Amethyst, "You guys should form Sugilite!"

"Yeah..." Amethyst agreed with a small smile. "Well, it's up to Garnet, I guess." she turned to Garnet, smiling widely. "What do you say? Shall we mash it up?..."

"No," Garnet said simply.

"Last time was a disaster. Last time we fused, Sugilite went berserk. It's because of her that we can't even warp here anymore." Garnet took off her visor to look Amethyst directly in the eyes. "I can be brash, you can be reckless. And we can both get carries away. So, for the time being," Garnet put her visor back on and continued, "Sugilite is benched. What we need now is to be careful." Steven gasped and Garnet turned to Pearl. "It's you and me, Pearl. Let's fuse." Pearl looked astonished as she started to tear up. "Don't cry, Pearl." Pearl gave a deep sniffle and Garnet continued, "Come on, let's do this."

"I'm right behind you," Pearl said, still sniffling. Steven ran toward them, cheering, then sat down next to Lion to watch. I sat down on Lion's other side and turned my gaze to Garnet and Pearl.

"Ready," Garnet said, her gemstones glowing.

"Hang on," Pearl grunted, stretching, "it's been such a long time...!" she straightened up and her gemstone glowed as the two began to dance. Their dance culminated in a pillar of orange light.

" _Gooooood evening,_ everybody!" a new voice rang out, and the pillar of light was slashed in half to become a falling curtain and small dragonflies. The fusion strutted over to us and did a twirl. "This is the lovely Sardonyx! Coming to you a- _live_ from the soon-to-be-former Communication Hub! How are y'all doin' tonight?"

"Great..." Amethyst said sarcastically.

"Giant woman!" Steven gasped. Sardonyx brought her lower hands in front of Steven.

"Oh my stars!" Sardonyx said, and Steven jumped into her hands as she lifted him up to her face. "If it isn't Steven Universe! We finally meet. So, what do you think?" she spun her torso in a full 360 with her upper hands touching her hair. "Was I worth the wait?" she looked confused, then ecstatic "What am I saying? Of course I was!" she laughed, and Steven stood up in her hands.

"Wow, you're so articulated!" Steven beamed, looking up at Sardonyx's face with starry eyes.

The fusion seemed to be made of self-confidence, which was a nice thing to feel after being surrounded by Pearl's inferiority complex and Amethyst's self-loathing almost all the time.

"Well, aren't you the sweetest little charmer!" Sardonyx exclaimed, bringing her free pair of hands to sandwich Steven and lightly squeezing him. "I could literally squish you right now! It would not be hard."

"No..." Steven laughed as he was being squeezed "ha-ha!"

Sardonyx stopped squeezing him and brought him closer to her face. "Sorry, I'm just so excited to be here. You see, I haven't exactly been myself lately." she moved Steven away from her face as she laughed. Steven laughed with her, then looked down at Amethyst and me, pointing to Sardonyx.

"Fusion joke!" he said, and Amethyst groaned, flopping her head into her arms. I let out a chuckle, grinning up at them.

Sardonyx put down Steven and summoned her weapon in a flashy manner, astonishing Steven.

"Are you gonna smash stuff with your war hammer?" Steven asked, excited.

"Hm..." Sardonyx thought, "'smash' is the word that one would use to describe what... someone _else_ might do." Amethyst scowled at the mention of Sugilite "Now..." Sardonyx jumped up, starting to destroy the Hub as she listed adjectives. "The proper words used to describe yours truly are... Specific! Intelligent! Accurate! Faultless! _Elegant._ Controlled! Surgical! Graceful!" she jumped up and prepared her final hit at the top of the tower "Aaaand... _Powerful!_ " she swung at the final column, stopping just before she hit it "But yes, occasionally, I am known... to smash." Sardonyx lightly tapped the top of the tower with her hammer, causing the piece to fall through.

The tower stopped transmitting light, and Sardonyx landed in front of us, dismissing her hammer in a cloud of dragonflies.

x x x

After the Hub was repaired for the fifth time, I started scanning the minds of the Gems, in case one of them was repairing the Hub.

"Hey, Pearl, where've you been?" I asked as Pearl warped in from wherever she had been going for the past week.

"Looking for Peridot," she replied, but I felt a bit of guilt from her.

 _She can't find out that I've been repairing the Hub to fuse with Garnet... Ohh, I hope she isn't listening right now..._

"Good idea," I said, not letting on that I knew what she was doing.

 _That explains why Sardonyx's confidence was a bit more restrained with each fusion,_ I thought, walking up to where Steven and Amethyst were watching TV.

"No, I don't think that's it," Amethyst said, replying to whatever Steven had said.

"Maybe she's trying to get us more channels?" Steven suggested, turning on the TV. The screen was filled with static like every other time the Hub was active.

"Oh, this is no good!" Pearl gasped from behind us, pretending to be surprised.

"What's wrong?" Steven asked, nervous and awkward.

"It's Peridot," Pearl said, and I almost winced from how bad her acting was. "She must've fixed the Communication Hub again!" Garnet walked up to us as a flash of concern went between Steven and Amethyst. "Garnet, it's the hub again."

"She's evading my future vision," Garnet said. "No matter how many times I try, I can't see us finding Peridot. Come on, team."

Five minutes later, we arrived at the newly repaired Communication Hub.

"Y'know, if it's gonna cause us so much trouble, why don't we just completely demolish the thing? Leave it a pile of rubble?" I suggested, but everyone ignored me in favor of their own thoughts.

 _Why is Pearl repairing the hub? - Why can't I see Peridot, if she's repairing the hub so often? - Oh, I hope Garnet doesn't find out!_

"I can't believe Peridot is giving us so much trouble!" Pearl said, "But it hardly matters, right Garnet? We can disable this tower as many times as we need to, _together!_ "

"I know what she's doing," Amethyst said, suddenly.

"You do?" Steven asked, looking away from where Pearl and Garnet were about to fuse.

"Stop!" Amethyst snapped, and Pearl and Garnet stopped dancing.

"I-is something the matter, Amethyst?" Pearl asked, nervous.

"You- you shouldn't..." Amethyst said, faltering before she could explain.

"Pearl... we saw you," Steven said, looking away.

"What?" Pearl asked.

"You need to tell Garnet it was you!" Steven said, and I rolled my eyes at how indirect they were being.

"I don't understand," Garnet said, but I could tell that she was close to the right conclusion.

"I'm sorry... I-it's just... so much fun being Sardonyx with you," Pearl said. Garnet dropped her, finally realizing what was going on.

" _That's_ why I couldn't see us finding Peridot," Garnet said.

"Wait! Let me explain!" Pearl cried, causing Garnet to turn on her.

" _You've_ been fixing the hub!" Garnet snarled, advancing on Pearl, who backed away.

"It really was Peridot!" Pearl said, then added, "T-the first time..."

"Pearl has been repairing the Communication Hub in order to fuse into Sardonyx," I explained, ignoring the growing rage from Garnet and guilt from Pearl. "Sardonyx is _extremely_ self-confident, which is a much better feeling than Pearl's usual inferiority and latent grief for Rose."

"Yeah, Garnet, fusing with you makes us feel _stronger!_ " Amethyst agreed. Garnet turned on her next.

" _Don't_ defend her! Either of you!" Garnet snarled, turning to me next.

"I'm not _defending_ her," I said, holding up my hands in surrender. "I'm just trying to explain her reasoning."

" _I don't care!_ " Garnet roared. "Why didn't you inform me of this deception _sooner_ , Emerald?"

"I only discovered it today, when Pearl returned from repairing the Hub," I replied. "Before then, I thought it was Peridot. Like everyone but Pearl did."

 _Ugh, don't take_ _ **her**_ _side now._

"I'm not taking sides, Amethyst," I said, turning to where she stood. "If I'm on anyone's side, I'm on _mine._ "

 _Of_ _ **course**_ _she is... Get out of my head!_


	20. 18: Bag and Tag

18: Bag and Tag

X X X X

A few nights after Pearl and Garnet made up, I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed when I heard something odd from Steven's bedroom.

"Goodnight, Happy Bear. Goodnight, Sad Bunny. Goodnight, Playful Kitty. Goodnight, Ominous Triangle at the foot of my bed," Steven said.

 _Ominous Triangle?!_ I thought, ducking out of the bathroom and drawing my bow. I fired an arrow at the foot of Steven's bed, then dismissed my bow.

"Awww, Emma, you shot Sad Bunny!" Steven said, and I yawned, rubbing my eyes as I padded across the floor to my bedroom.

"M'sorry, Steven," I said, stifling another yawn. "I'll sew 'im up in the morning. G'night."

"Goodnight, Emma," Steven replied as I walked through the curtained arch into my room.

Before I could get into bed, I heard muffled screaming and struggling from Steven's room.

"The hell?" I muttered, stuffing my feet into my flip-flops and shuffling to poke my head through my door.

When I looked into the main room, I saw the warp stream dissipating. A quick mental scan of the house showed that Steven was gone.

I was instantly wide awake. I ran to the Temple door and pounded on it to get the attention of the Gems.

"Gems! Steven's been kidnapped through the Warp!" I yelled, then jumped on the Warp Pad, letting it take me to its last destination.

Landing at the Galaxy Warp, I saw Steven on the Homeworld Warp with Peridot. Peridot was sitting on the pad, her arms wrapped around her knees and a defeated look on her face.

Moments later, the Gems warped in behind me and Peridot looked up, noticing us there. I sat down on the edge of the Pad to watch, but I couldn't hear what they said.

Pearl ran to Steven and hugged him, Garnet and Amethyst following behind. After a moment, they started to fight Peridot. As the Gems gained on Peridot, I moved closer.

"Wait, wait, you- you need me!" Peridot cried as Pearl snuck up behind her and drew her spear. "I'm the only one who knows about the-" As Peridot turned towards Pearl, Garnet grabbed her and poofed her. As her form dissipated, her arms and legs fell to the ground with a clatter.

"What on Earth?" Pearl said, confused.

"Ugh, sick, there's bits of her all over," Amethyst said, looking at the limbs. I crouched down and scooped up the fingers, shoving them in my pockets. Looking up, I saw that the Gems hadn't noticed my swiping the appendages.

"Nope, she's right here," Garnet said, bubbling Peridot's gem and sending it to the Temple. "And now she's in the Temple."

"So these weren't actually part of her body?" Pearl asked as Amethyst scooped up the remaining pieces, walking over to the edge of the Galaxy Warp and dropping them in the ocean. She tried to make it look like an accident that she had dropped them, but failed miserably.

"Garnet, she was trying to tell us something..." Steven said, and I thought back to what the green Gem had said right before she had been poofed.

"Those were just the desperate lies of a Gem who's been caught," Garnet said dismissively. "You don't need to worry about her anymore."

I walked back over to the only working Warp Pad and warped back to the house, going into my room and digging the fingers out of my pockets. I bubbled the fingers, then shoved the bubble into my closet to prevent anyone from finding it.

x x x

The next day, I was lounging on my bed, playing around on my phone, when I heard a commotion below me.

"Dear god, there's not supposed to be anything _below_ my room," I said, getting off my bed and kneeling on the ground as if it would help. Suddenly, I was floating down through the floor and into Garnet's room.

 _The wonders of this Temple will never cease to a-_ I thought, looking around the room and finding Steven and Peridot fighting on the ground.

"...your bubble dungeon! And, you called me" Peridot said, pausing and blushing angrily "... _cute!_ "

"I didn't poof you! I freed you!" Steven said, freeing himself from Peridot. I looked at her, watching as she stood up.

 _Oh my god, she's_ _ **adorable!**_ I squealed internally, wanting to watch their conversation proceed, but I floated back up into my room instead. I stood up, then collapsed on my bed, sighing to myself.

"She's _perfect._ "

"Freedom is mine!" Peridot cried from the main house. I listened, but didn't move.

"Wait!" Steven cried.

"Look! Over there! Another planet to betray!" Peridot cried, most likely talking to the Gems. " _Retreat!_ " There was a small scuffle, and the bathroom door slammed and locked.

"Peridot, open the door!" Garnet demanded, and the toilet flushed.

"If you're trying to flush yourself down the toilet, it won't work. Trust me, I've tried," Amethyst called, and I chuckled.

 _Classic Amethyst..._ I thought, then a realization hit me. _She wasn't scared of being caught, she was scared of something_ _ **else**_ _..._


	21. 19: Moon Landing

19: Moon Landing

X X X X

We had been working on the drill for a couple weeks, and one evening, we decided that it was time for a break. I was sitting near Steven, looking at the sunset, when Peridot approached.

"Steven," she said bluntly.

"Hi!" Steven greeted, looking up from his ukulele and smiling at her.

"Why did we stop working on the drill?!" Peridot asked, confused and worried. "Why are they just sitting there looking at nothing?!"

"We worked hard and we deserve to take it easy for a little bit. I mean, just look at that view," Steven explained, gesturing to the sunset. "It's beautiful."

"It's going to be blown to oblivion by the Cluster if we don't get back to work!" Peridot snapped, waving her arms around frantically.

"Working hard is important, but feeling good is important too," Steven said.

"What are you talking about?!" Peridot asked, not understanding what he meant. In her flailing, Peridot accidentally turned on the power drill in her hand and it made a buzzing sound.

"Hey!" Steven said, imitating the drill. "What is that, a C?" He played the note on his ukulele.

"The drill?" Peridot asked, making the drill buzz again.

"Yeah!" Steven said, and Peridot made the drill buzz in a higher pitch. "Oh my gosh, now it's music!"

"Music?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah! It's music! Like this; do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do." Steven explained, strumming his ukulele.

"Do-mi-so-do..." Peridot said, contemplative.

"Isn't it pretty?" Steven asked in a sing-song voice.

"That's exceedingly simple," Peridot said, and Steven strummed his ukulele again. "Do-mi-so-ti..."

"We're making music," Steven said, still sing-song.

"What is the point?" Peridot asked, "You're not making anything."

"Well, if it isn't anything, then why does it sound so good?" Steven asked.

"I suppose it's just interest... Do-mi-so-do." Peridot said, mostly talking to herself. "Devoid of substance or purpose, a hypothetical pattern... Do-mi-so-ti. For the satisfaction of bringing it to completion."

"Sure," Steven said.

"Do-mi-so-ti. Interest without meaning? Solutions without problems?" Peridot asked nobody in particular.

"And then you just add words," Steven said, gripping his ukulele in playing position. "Here's what I have been working on."

x x

( _Steven_ , **Peridot** , _**Steven/Peridot**_ , Amethyst, _Pearl_ , Garnet)

 _Life and death and love and birth,_

 _And peace and war on the planet Earth._

 _Is there anything that's worth more_

 _Than peace and love on the planet Earth_

 _Oh - Whooah, come on and sing it with me..._

 **Sing?**

 _The words relate to the key..._

 **Key?**

 _If it's a pattern,_

 _If it's a pattern,_

 _Then just repeat after me..._

 _Life and death and love and birth-_

 **Life and death and love and birth-**

 _Now you sing mi-fa-mi-mi-fa-mi-ti-la!_

 _ **And peace and war on the planet Earth!**_

 _Yes, yes! That's it!_

 **That's so easy.**

 _Yeah, but that's what's fun about it._

 _You should write something, you should write a song!_

 **About what?**

 _Whatever you're thinking!_

 **I guess we're already here,**

 **I guess we already know.**

 **We've all got something to fear,**

 **We've all got nowhere to go.**

 **I think you're all INSANE!**

 **But I guess I am too...**

 **Anybody would be**

 **If they were stuck on Earth with you.**

 _Hahaha, yes!_

 _Live and death and love and birth and-_

Life and death and love and birth and-

 _Life and death and love and birth and_

 _Peace and war on the planet Earth._

 **Is there anything that's worth more?**

 _Is there anything that's worth more?_

 **Is there anything that's worth more**

 **Than peace and love on the planet Earth...**

x x

"Nice work," Garnet said as we appraised the finished drill. She patted Peridot on the back, but Peridot jumped in fear. The Crystal Gems laughed, and Steven hugged her.

"We really did it, huh?" Peridot commented, surprising everyone.

"We?" Steven gasped.

"Oh wait," Peridot said, straightening up in sudden realization. "I need to check something!" She ran to the drill.

"She's come so far," Steven said proudly. "It feels like yesterday she was trying to kill us."

"No no, that was several weeks ago," Pearl corrected, and I let out a chuckle, walking away and lying on the grass to look at the stars.

x x x

Ten minutes later, we were on the moon. Well, we were in a Diamond Base on the moon, but we were on the moon nonetheless.

"Woah," Steven laughed as he floated around in the Gem Base, "look at me! I'm a" he paused and jumped really high "moon boy!"

"Haha, alright moon boy!" Amethyst said, jumping in the air in an attempt to float around with Steven, but instead she fell on her face.

"Moon boy quadruple back flip!" Steven declared, still floating.

"Hey! Why can't I be a moon boy?" Amethyst asked, dejected.

"We're _Gems,_ " Peridot explained, "we're a space-faring race designed to conquer other worlds. Our physical forms adjust automatically to the gravity of any planetoid."

"Ahhh, lame," Amethyst said.

Steven bounced around some more, then crashed into a mural on one of the walls. Peridot immediately rushed over to the mural of Yellow Diamond and started fangirling over the "Great Diamond Authority".

x x x

Fifteen minutes of stair-climbing later, we were in the control room. Peridot had pulled up a map of Earth, with red dots showing various Gem sites. I recognized quite a few of the locations, both from school and TV shows.

"Oh, there's the Tunguska Sea, up in Russia," I said, pointing to the large body of water in North Asia, "and Ft. Mulder, in Deseret! Ronaldo told me a few weeks ago that the government studies aliens there. I didn't believe him, even when he showed me  
a picture of one of the 'aliens'. It was _clearly_ the skull of a fox."

"Hush, Emerald," Garnet said, silencing me with a wave of her hand.

 _ **I**_ _thought it was interesting..._ Amethyst thought, giving me a quick glance before turning back to the screen.

X

 **(AN: Again, multiple things to address.**

 **1\. Emma didn't sing because I couldn't find a place to fit her in the song.**

 **2\. Yes, Emma went to school. She lived a normal human life up until she met the Gems.**

 **3\. In going with the alternate history theme of the SU-verse, I modified some place names.**

 **-Tunguska Sea: around where the Tunguska Event occurred IRL**

 **-Deseret: Utah and surrounding land, named after the original Mormon name for the area**

 **4\. I referenced** ** _The X-Files_** **for some bits at the end**

 **-Ft. Mulder = Area 51, named for Agent Mulder**

 **-the "alien" being the skull of a fox: skull for Agent Scully, a fox for Mulder, whose first name is Fox**

 **My mom is a fan of** ** _The X-Files_** **, so I felt like referencing it.)**


	22. 20: Change of Heart

20: Change of Heart

X X X X

"How much longer 'til we can use the drill?" Amethyst asked.

"Well, with the new coordinates we got from the moon base, it should be ready to go," Pearl replied. "But we really should perform a few tests first."

I watched as Peridot snuck into the barn, followed by Steven.

 _Good,_ I thought, watching as the two got into the truck inside the barn. _He's got this handled._

A few minutes later, Steven ran to us, holding an odd device. He showed it to the Gems, telling them what Peridot had told him about the device.

"She took a direct line to the Diamonds!" Pearl exclaimed, inspecting the device. "From the moon base? What was she thinking?"

"Man, after everything we've gone through, she's _still_ out to get us!" Amethyst growled. "Ohh, I'm takin' back all my cool nicknames for her! So long, Peri and P-dot, hello... Ahh, I'm too mad! I'll think of something later."

Inside the barn, the truck horn started honking.

"I see she knows what a horn is now," Steven said. I looked back to the barn, worried. The Gems continued talking, but I tuned them out as I thought.

Suddenly, one side of the barn exploded.

"Ohhhh nooooo!" Steven cried. Peridot had broken out of the truck and was in her robot from the Robolympics.

"Free, freeeee! Ahahaha!" Peridot laughed maniacally.

"How did she escape?" Steven asked, and Peridot threw the door of the truck in front of us.

"Fools!" Peridot cried. "Your invisible rotary shield was no match for me... once I applied logic!" The Gems ran toward Peridot to fight her. "Now I'm going to do this right." Peridot threw the truck at the Gems, but they managed to duck out of the way in time. Pearl and Amethyst tried to keep hold of the Diamond Phone, but Peridot managed to get it from them. "See? None of you know what you're doing!" And she ran away.

"Ohh okay! I've been ready for _this!_ " Amethyst said, transforming into a helicopter. "Get in."

We pursued Peridot, finally cornering the robot and getting her out of it, but she managed to get away and activate the Phone.

"She'll sort this out," Peridot giggled as the Phone opened up a hologram. The rest of us hid behind the robot so as not to be seen by Yellow Diamond.

Instead of Yellow Diamond, a Pearl appeared at the other end.

"This the Yellow Diamond control room," the Pearl said automatically.

"Is that another pearl?" Amethyst asked quietly.

"Who is she?" Steven asked.

"Ugh, not all pearls know each other, Steven," Pearl said, but her disgusted tone suggested that she did, in fact, know the yellow pearl.

 _That lemony bitch was always smug about being made for Yellow Diamond!_

"Who authorized you to make this call?" the yellow pearl asked.

"No one, b-b-but it's an emergency!" Peridot replied.

"That's no excuse to use the direct Diamond Communication Channel," Yellow Pearl said condescendingly.

"Pearl," a new voice said.

"Yes, my Diamond?" Yellow Pearl asked, turning to her left and looking up.

"Why is there someone on the Diamond Line?" Yellow Diamond asked.

"I don't know. I was just about to tell her that-"

"I'll take it from here," Yellow Diamond interrupted, and the hologram was lifted higher into the air.

"Is that..." Amethyst said as Yellow Diamond came into view.

"Yellow..." Pearl started, her voice fading after one word.

"Diamond!" Garnet finished, angry.

"My Diamond!" Peridot said, doing an odd salute with her arms across her chest. "Peridot, reporting in."

" _Which_ peridot?" Yellow Diamond asked, and I was confused for a moment before remembering that some Gems were dime-a-dozen on Homeworld.

"F-Facet-2F5L, Cut 5XG," Peridot replied, faltering a bit at the start. "I'm sorry to contact you this way, but all other forms of communication have been destroyed and-" Yellow Diamond gestured for Peridot to stop talking.

"This says you're behind schedule on your mission to... How is... the Earth?" Yellow Diamond asked.

"It's... full of life," Peridot replied.

"Organic life... and where is the Jasper I assigned you?" Yellow Diamond asked. "And why aren't you calling from the ship?"

"The ship was destroyed," Peridot said.

"By whom?"

"I-I-I-It was destroyed by..." Peridot started, turning and looking at Steven, "no one! There was... an accident... while we were...landing?"

"I'll inform your manager of your incompetence," Yellow Diamond said, not noticing Peridot's momentary distraction. "And what is the status of the Cluster?"

"The Cluster... will emerge shortly." Peridot replied.

"Good. We'll finally get some use out of that miserable planet..." Yellow Diamond said with a grim smile. "Thank you for your report, Peridot. There'll be a ship heading to your location to take you to your next assignment."

"Wait! I-I wouldn't have called to waste your time with a report," Peridot interjected, and Yellow Diamond turned to look down at her.

"You already have."

"No, I mean... the reason I called..." Peridot started, struggling to find the right words. "the real reason is... I believe we should terminate the Cluster."

"...Why?"

"The organic ecosystem creates resources unique to this world, we can't sacrifice all that potential just for one geo-weapon!" Peridot explained. "I'd like to tell you some plans I came up with to utilize a planet without disrupting the local -"

"I've heard enough! I don't care about _potential_ and _resources_." Yellow Diamond spat.

"What?!" Peridot gasped, scandalized.

"I want my Cluster, and I want that planet to _die_. Just make that happen," Yellow Diamond ordered.

"No!" Peridot stated firmly. Yellow Pearl gave an audible gasp.

"Are you questioning my authority?!" Yellow Diamond asked, scandalized.

"I'm... questioning your objectivity! My Diamond." Peridot replied, doing her weird salute again.

"Well!" Yellow Pearl snipped.

"You are out of line," Yellow Diamond said.

"I just think -"

"I'm not interested in the puny thoughts of a Peridot –"

"But!" Peridot interrupted.

"You have disrespected this channel and my time with your presence and you would do well to -"

"But -"

"Shut your mouth!" Yellow Diamond demanded. "You have failed at every stage of this mission. Your only chance to redeem yourself is to obey this simple order. You are to leave the Cluster to grow. It will tear apart the Earth, and I will take immense satisfaction in erasing that hideous rock off of our star maps. Is that clear?!"

"I won't do it!" Peridot snapped. "I can tell you with certainty that there are things on this planet worth protecting!" Steven smiled from behind the broken robot.

"What do you know about the Earth?" Yellow Diamond asked sharply.

"Apparently more than _YOU!_ You... **CLOD!** " Peridot screamed. Yellow Diamond glared furiously at Peridot through the hologram. "Ah! Peridot, out!" Peridot did her weird salute and cut the call.

Immediately after the call ended, I leapt out from behind the robot and picked Peridot up in a huge hug. She protested a bit at first, but after a few seconds she stopped.

"That was AMAZING!" Steven cried, ecstatic.

"I can't believe I just did that..." Peridot said, in shock.

"I was so wrong about being so wrong about you!" Steven exclaimed.

"I can't believe I just did that..." Peridot repeated. I set her down, beaming at her sudden betrayal of "her Diamond".

"You thought you could change her mind," Garnet said with a small smile.

"Yellow D got torn down by the 'Peri-dactyl'!" Amethyst cheered, having come up with a new nickname for the small green Gem.

 _She gave me another name..._ Peridot thought, and I could tell that she would be blushing if she wasn't in shock.

"Can one of you take this?" Peridot said, handing the Diamond Phone to Pearl.

"Why?" Pearl asked, confused.

"Because it can be remotely detonated," Peridot replied. The Phone glowed red and the Gems started to panic while Peridot curled into a ball on the ground. The Gems juggled the Phone between them before Steven bubbled it and Garnet punched it, launching it far away where it exploded.

"I thought I could reason with her..." Peridot said.

"Yeah," Amethyst said. "You really made her mad."

"And then you insulted her to her face," Pearl chipped in.

"Do you know what this means?!" Steven asked.

"That I'm a traitor to my home world?" Peridot offered.

"You're a Crystal Gem!" Steven said, hugging Peridot.

"Whether you like it or not," Garnet said, and I rolled my eyes at her finality. Peridot started moaning loudly, obviously displeased with something.

X

 **(AN: Yes, in EU "canon" Pearl knows Yellow Pearl.)**


	23. 21: Apocalypse Now

21: Apocalypse Now

X X X X

The day after we finished the drill, everyone was lounging outside the barn, enjoying the sun. Steven was asleep, and the Gems were sitting around, talking. I sat a few yards away, scrolling through the internet.

Suddenly, the ground shook. The surprise of the quake, accompanied by the shaking, sent me sprawling on my back.

"Didn't you feel that?" Peridot asked, worried.

"Feel what?" Amethyst asked, completely unconcerned.

"The ground shook. This could be the emergence of the Cluster," Peridot replied, continuing, "Stage one: Slight tremors every quarter hour. Stage two: Full scale earthquakes. Stage three: the Earth is destroyed! We're running out of time! We need to drill right now!"

"No, it's Malachite!" Steven said, and my eyes widened in shock.

"Malachite?!" Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl cried in unison.

"What," Peridot said flatly, not knowing who Malachite was.

"I was on Mask Island," Steven explained. "I was in a Watermelon Steven. They have a lovely community, but Malachite, she was there!"

Amethyst coughed, almost choking on her sandwich.

"Lapis Lazuli is losing control. Soon Jasper will overpower her and Malachite will be loose." Garnet said, and I felt Peridot's confusion growing.

"Who _knows_ what sort of destruction an unstable fusion like Malachite could cause!" Pearl said, standing up.

"Alright, Gems," Garnet started, "Pearl, Amethyst, and I will warp to Mask Island. Steven, it's too dangerous for you. Stay here and watch the drill with Peridot and Emerald. Let's go, Gems! To the nearest Warp Pad!"

"To the nearest Warp Pad!" Pearl and Amethyst repeated, then ran off with Garnet.

"So... Lazuli has Jasper trapped in a fusion?" Peridot asked. "You're joking me."

"It's true!" Steven replied. "But Lapis must be getting tired from fighting Jasper for so long."

"Yeah, it's been like a _year_ since they fused," I said, standing up and starting to leave. "I'm gonna go into town for some food. Be careful, you two."

"See ya!" Steven said, waving as I left.

The walk into town was a bit longer than I thought, especially with the occasional tremors forcing me to stop so I didn't fall down.

 _I think Peridot was right about the Cluster_ , I thought, but shrugged off the idea. _How far away_ _ **is**_ _Mask Island, anyway?_

x x x

Three hours later, I returned to the barn to find that Steven, Peridot, and the drill were gone, and there was a hole in the ground.

"So Peridot _was_ right about the Cluster..." I said, lying down on Steven's abandoned duvet and getting out my phone to scroll through Tumblr.

X

 **(AN: I know, short chapter, but nothing much happened that I could add Emma to, and I really didn't want to add a boring description of her walk to and from Beach City [about an hour** ** _without_** **the earthquakes, so probably an hour and a half to two hours].**

 **Thanks for reading!)**


	24. 22: Baseball!

22: _Baseball?!_

X X X X

 _Oh, dear god, this is_ _ **bad**_ _._

"Ruby?" Steven said, looking at the one-eyed Ruby that had climbed out of the pod. Garnet picked him up and took him into the barn, with the rest of us following behind.

"What a lovely planet!" one of the Rubies said, and I poked my head through the barn door to see that one of the Rubies was walking around happily, not at all hostile.

"Wait!" the next Ruby out of the pod said. "So we just... get up and walk around? Woah-!"

The confused Ruby was shoved out of the pod by the fourth - _no, fifth, see that one kicking random things?_ \- Ruby.

"Now, where's the Gem the scanners locked on to?" the fifth, and last, Ruby said. "Let's fan out and search the area!"

"Woah, look at 'em all!" Steven said, sticking his head out the door under me.

"I knew it. They're after me!" Peridot said, starting to panic. "This is the end of the line!"

"You really weren't kidding!" Lapis said, slightly surprised that Peridot was right.

"I disobeyed a direct order from Yellow Diamond, and I called her a clod... to her _face!_ " Peridot moaned.

"Oh, honestly, you call _everyone_ a clod," Pearl said, and I nodded in agreement. I had been called a clod more times than I could count.

"Yes, but not everyone has command over all the armies of Homeworld waiting for the word to shatter me!" Peridot cried, scampering over to a box and hiding under it.

"Peridot! We won't let them get you," Steven said, lifting the box to reveal that Peridot was curled up in the fetal position.

"Haven't I caused you _enough_ trouble...?" she moaned, and I could feel that her panic had turned to resignation.

"Don't worry, Peridot," Garnet said, "it's our sworn duty to protect anything that calls this planet home, and that includes clods like you."

"That's _my_ word," Peridot muttered, and I stifled laughter at her antics.

"Listen up, everyone," Garnet said, turning back to the rest of us. "I have a plan. Or should I say..." she held up her hands, displaying her gems, " _we_ have a plan."

Giggling at her own joke, she unfused into Ruby and Sapphire, who were holding hands.

"Hello everyone," Sapphire said.

"Ruby! Sapphire!" Pearl and Amethyst said in unison.

"HUUUGS!" Steven crowed, running up to the pair and hugging them.

"Hello, Steven!" Sapphire said with a smile.

"So, what's the plan?" Amethyst asked.

Sapphire turned to Ruby and said, "You got this. Just act casual," then kissed her on the cheek.

"Yeah," Ruby said, bumping her fist against her palm. "Casual."

Ruby left the barn, rushing toward the other Rubies, who were chattering amongst themselves by the pod. She proceeded to act _not casual_ , then ran back to the barn.

"Ba-byee~" Happy Ruby said as Crystal Ruby left the group.

"They want to search the barn!" Ruby told us, nervous.

"We heard," said Steven.

"We saw," said Pearl.

"I'm scared!" whimpered Peridot.

"Let's ambush 'em!" Amethyst said, holding up a baseball bat menacingly.

"No, no one needs to get hurt," Sapphire reasoned. "Let's be sensible."

"What do I do?" Ruby asked, biting her fingers nervously.

"Just go out there and tell them that this is a place where humans live," Sapphire said. I could feel that under her calm exterior, she was also nervous.

"I don't wanna go alone..." Ruby sighed.

"Oh! I'll come," Steven said. "I'll be your backup."

"And here's some backup for your backup," Amethyst said, handing Steven a baseball bat before he left with Ruby.

A few minutes later, they returned with some... _interesting_ news, to say the least.

"Baseball?!" Peridot, Pearl, Amethyst, and Sapphire cried, astonished. Ruby facepalmed.

"I... saw that this was a possibility, though I am surprised this is the path we're taking," Sapphire said.

Steven blew a whistle, probably from the baseball equipment box that Peridot had dumped out to hide in, and said, "Alright. My human baseball knowledge will lead us to victory! Let's just go out there and pretend to be humans! Except Peridot. You stay here in the barn and hide."

"O... kay," Peridot said, a bit confused.

"Everybody in?" Steven asked, then glanced at Lapis. "Lapis?"

"This plan sucks," Lapis said with a chuckle.

"You in, Emma?" Steven asked, turning to me.

"Sure, but I gotta warn you, I'm not the most athletic person out there," I said, and Steven gave me a huge grin.

"I know you can do it, Emma!"

x x x

A few minutes later, we were all in baseball outfits, ready to play against the Rubies.

"We're the humans!" Steven started. "Steven!"

"Earl!" Pearl said.

"Amy!" said Amethyst.

"Bob," Lapis deadpanned.

"Emma," I said, giving an awkward grin.

"And Sophie," Sapphire finished, blushing.

"Understood. Our team is the Rubies!" the lead Ruby, whose gem was on her chest, said. "Consisting of... Ruby!"

"Ruby!" said our Ruby.

"Ruby!" Happy Ruby, whose gem was on her navel, said with a smile.

"Ruby!" the aggressive Ruby, whose gem was on her arm, said quickly.

"Ruby," the one-eyed Ruby deadpanned.

"And Ruby!" finished the confused Ruby, whose gem was on her leg.

Steven explained the rules, then we started playing.

Our Ruby missed first, striking out. Arm Ruby was next, hitting a home run. After that, two more Rubies got out, one with Pearl catching the ball and the other with Steven tagging them out.

Amethyst was the first on our team to bat. She hit the ball out of the field, then did a spin-dash around the plates, sliding into home with style.

"Nice!" Pearl said enthusiastically.

"Wow, that purple human is _really_ good," said Belly Ruby.

"Hahahaha, us humans, we're full of surprises," Steven said, pushing Amethyst away from home plate and whispering, "Amethyst, be _careful._ "

Sapphire ran onto the field to bat next, starting to flirt with our Ruby, who was catcher, instead of focusing on the game.

"What's going on?" Steven asked. "What are they doing?"

"Flirting," Lapis replied in a monotone.

"Uh-oh..." Pearl said, worried.

 _I wonder if Em liked how I scored that home run,_ Amethyst thought, then she turned to me and winked.

"Good job out there, Amy," I said, giving her an encouraging smile.

 _I wonder if I should try to refocus Ruby and Sapphire on the game..._ I wondered, allowing my mind to wander a bit as I waited to go up to bat.

x x x

Roughly forty-five minutes later, after a _lot_ of flirting between Ruby and Sapphire, two bats broken by Rubies, and a few more attempts by Amethyst to impress me, for some reason, we weren't doing as well as we'd hoped.

"Alright, it's the bottom of the ninth, we've got Lapis on second, but one more out and the game's over for us," Steven said, "we need to hit a home run."

"Wait, I call a time out!" Steven cried, running over to home plate. "Listen you two, I know it's hard being separated, but we have to keep them out of the barn or they're gonna find Peridot, remember?! Ruby, stop being cute, and Sapphire, keep your _eye_ on the ball!"

"Pun... intended?" Ruby asked, confusing me.

"What'd I just say?" Steven asked, exasperated, before running back to us and gesturing to resume play.

After two strikes, Sapphire hit an _amazing_ home run. We celebrated by the bench as Lapis walked to home and Sapphire ran to get back to Ruby.

"Come to me!" Ruby said, holding out her arms as Sapphire rounded third. Sapphire leapt toward Ruby, and they rolled a few yards along the ground, both laughing as they accidentally fused into Garnet.

"Hahaha... ha... whoops..." Garnet laughed, then realized what had happened.

"They're _Gems!_ " Chest Ruby spat.

"We've been tricked!" growled Arm Ruby.

"What a turn of events!" Belly Ruby said, more surprised than angry. Eye Ruby merely growled, and Leg Ruby made confused noises.

"Sorry guys, the game is over," Garnet said, getting up and walking over to us.

"THAT'S IT!" Chest Ruby shouted as all the Rubies came together in an odd formation. "RUBIES... COMBINE!"

The Rubies fused, forming a fifteen-foot-tall Ruby, who roared at us.

"Wait! Ooo, wait stop, don't hurt them," Peridot said, running to us from the barn. She fell a few times, but continued nevertheless. "Wait, oh please please, it's me you're after right? I'm not gonna stand by and let my friends fight my battles!"

 _Especially not the aesthetically pleasing one!_ she added mentally, and I fought back a blush.

"Awww, Peri loves us!" Steven cooed.

"Are you the Peridot assigned to the failed Earth mission?" the giant Ruby asked, towering over Peridot.

"Not sure if _failed_ would be the right word..." Peridot replied.

"Where is Jasper?" the Ruby snapped.

"You're looking for... Jasper?" Peridot asked, confused.

"WAIT!" Peridot cried. " _I'm_ the one who betrayed the mission, who called Yellow Diamond a clod, the new leader of the Crystal Gems?"

"What?" Pearl said, confused, but I waved a hand at her to silence her.

 _Peridot's trying to protect us,_ I thought, trying my best to project that thought to Pearl.

"Tell us where Jasper is, NOW!" the Ruby fusion demanded.

"Jasper... umm, we know where Jasper is..." Peridot said, and I rolled my eyes. We hadn't seen or heard of Jasper since she fell into a fissure in the earth at Mask Island.

"WELL?!"

"Aahhh..." Peridot said, fumbling for an answer.

"Neptune!" Steven interjected. "She's on the planet Neptune!"

"Well why didn't you just say so?" the giant Ruby said after a few moments of silence.


	25. 23: Daddy Issues

23: Daddy Issues

X X X X

"Steven, don't tell them about the free wax," Greg said, holding out his hose as he walked toward the giant bus that had just pulled up.

From inside the bus came an odd-looking man. He was balding, wore yellow sunglasses, a leather jacket over a green shirt, jeans with a wallet on a gold chain, and gold shoes with wings.

"Marty?" Greg said, recognizing the man.

"You mean your rotten old manager?" Steven asked, stepping in front of Greg. "I'll protect you, Dad!"

"Eh, don't worry," Greg said, "I got a hose."

"So, this is where you work now, Star Child?" Marty asked, "A run-down old car wash? Guess the music biz wasn't as good to you as it's been to me."

"Uh, hey, Marty. Long time, no see," Greg said, putting his hand on Steven's shoulder. "This is my son, Steven."

"Woah! Guess I'll call you Star Child Jr." Marty said, the sun catching his glasses and casting a blinding reflection.

"Anyway, uh, things are totally fine here in old Beach City, but, uh, if you need me to wash that huge bus of yours, it'd probably help me out," Greg said with a chuckle and a wink.

 _Heh, wait till he sees_ _ **this**_ _!_ Marty thought, pulling an envelope from his jacket.

"Eh, sorry, Mr. U," Sour Cream said, coming over to us. "I totally clogged up your toi-" He looked up, noticing Marty. "Woah! Dad?"

"Sour Cream?" Marty said, caught off-guard.

"W-what are you doing here?" Sour Cream asked, surprised to see his father.

"Uh... S.C. Oof! Just look at you," Marty said, putting the envelope back into his jacket. As he did, I noticed a large "G" on his shirt. "When did you get so tall?"

"Uh, like nine years ago," Sour Cream replied.

"Woah!" Marty said, giving a nervous chuckle and clearing his throat. "Sorry I've been gone so long, but you know how the music biz can be, r-i-i-ight?"

"No," Sour Cream answered, "Can you tell me about it?"

 _I've seen something like that "G" before... And a manager as "rotten" as him doesn't usually make it big enough to get their_ _ **own**_ _bus..._ I thought, suspicious. I briefly considered delving into his thoughts to see what was _really_ going on, but I decided against it in the name of privacy. Instead, I grabbed my phone and loaded up Google to see what I could find.

 _Damn guy's_ _ **actually**_ _a manager..._

x x x

Half an hour later, I was walking along the beach when I saw Steven, Sour Cream, and Marty setting up for something.

 _Gotta find out what they're doing!_ I thought, starting toward them, then stopping as a realization hit me. _They'll be suspicious if I just... show up without any warning, or reason... Time to see if my powers work on full humans!_

Coming to a decision, I focused myself, starting to project an aura of unimportance. If my powers worked on full humans, nobody there would think of me as important enough to notice.

I started toward them, checking to see if the legion of roadies took note of my presence. Satisfied with their ignorance, I advanced to the trio, arriving just as Steven left with a huge box.

"Hey, let me rap with you about the setup I have envisioned, okay?" Marty said, putting his arm around Sour Cream's shoulders.

"Okay!" Sour Cream said, excited.

"So, the stage is gonna be huge, and the speakers, even huger..." Marty explained, and I rolled my eyes, turning and walking away to watch the roadies as they worked.

 _Why are those things covered with sheets?_ I thought, looking at the two giant, covered cylinders that were set up on either side of the stage.

 _This is_ _ **too**_ _suspicious..._

x x x

That evening, I stood on the beach, waiting for the performance to start. I could sense the roadies, minus Steven, waiting behind the covered cylinders for their cue as Steven did a mic check to the light cheering of the crowd.

"Don't mind me, folks!" Steven said. "Just a humble roadie doing a mic check." He fiddled with the mic a bit before saying, "this mic looks great!" and walking off stage to Sour Cream.

"Hey, Sour Cream, we're ready to go whenever you are," Steven said.

"Okay, I guess I'll go out and get started," Sour Cream said, starting for the stage.

"That's not how we do things in the music biz," Marty said, coming from behind Sour Cream. "Let a proper hype man set the stage for you."

"Woah. I've never been properly hyped before," Sour Cream said, impressed and excited. "Thanks, Dad!"

Marty came onto the stage, and the crowd cheered around me as he walked up to the mic.

"It's some guy!" someone said from behind me, and I stifled laughter as I focused on Marty.

"How's it go- Is this mic even on?" Marty said, turning on the mic. "How you feeling, Beach Ci-taay!"

As he spoke, I felt a slick sort of smugness coming off him, which made me even more suspicious.

"You know, I've always been someone with good tastes, so you got to believe me. This show is special to me. It's personal," Marty said, and I sensed the roadies tensing up, their cue almost delivered. "Because I want to introduce you to a fresh, raw experience, to a whole new flavor, to a brand new... _Soda!_ "

 _What?!_ Sour Cream thought, his shock clearly evident.

" _Guacola!_ "

 _So_ _ **that's**_ _where I've seen that "G" before!_ I thought, watching as the electric billboard on the stage read "Guacola" and everything lit up neon green The roadies uncovered the cylinders, which were speakers in the shape of cans of Guacola.

"That's right. Guacola! The world's first guacamole soda. Each can comes with the power of three whole avocados!"

 _And it has been banned in all but three states, Delmarva_ _ **not**_ _being one of the three!_ I added mentally, watching as Marty threw cans of Guacola to the crowd. Everyone tried the Guacola, but the only one who actually liked it was Onion. Which was odd, since Onion didn't eat _anything._

In the ensuing chaos, I didn't notice that Marty left until he was gone.

X

 **(AN: I decided that, due to how** ** _awful_** **Guacola seemed to be in the show, it would be widely banned. So Marty's technically breaking the law by distributing Guacola in Delmarva! ...Perhaps Jersey is one of the places where it** ** _isn't_** **banned, and** ** _that's_** **how Emma knows about it...**

 **Anyway, I'm done posting chapters for today, or at least for right now, because I have to go to Pep Band by five, and it's 4:45. Which means that I have to walk out to my car, get out my tuba, and drag the thing back to the building. Maybe I'll try to get a better parking spot while I'm at it...)**


	26. Authors Note

I would like to take a bit of time to reply to a very lovely review.

"Cole:THIS IS AMAZING! I LOVE IT I HOPE YOU CONTINUE IT FOR A LONG TIME AND WE EVENTUALLY GET TO SEE EMS COUNTERPARTS? or her talking to them internally/seeing them in her gem (also isn't her dad worried about her?) Lol"

1\. Thank you so much! I love hearing when others love what I'm doing!

2\. There are at least three arcs for the story, including the one we're in right now, and I'm working on plotting out the third arc. The second arc is a bit short, but there's a chance that I'll get it bigger in the future. Plus, there's a good amount  
of character development.

3\. One of Emma's mothers will make an appearance, in flashbacks, in an upcoming chapter in the next arc.

4\. Emma's dad isn't all that concerned about her. Not that he's a bad person, but Emma was 18 when she left home, and she had enough to get her by, so he figured that her lack of communication is an indicator that she's doing well.

5, and the biggest thing- I'm going to write a prequel story/series, showcasing Emma's mother's roles, their war roles, how they met and fell in love and decided to fuse permanently, the time that Emerald was a crystal gem, and what happened in the eighty-something  
years between Emerald getting lost and Emma meeting the crystal gems.

Not sure when I'll start actually writing that, but it will be separate from the main story, and appropriate links will be provided.

 **(AN: If any of you lovelies wants to do fanfic/fanart/etc. based on Emerald's Universe, you are very welcome to! On Tumblr, tag with #Emeraldsuniverse; #RJwriter; and #RJwrites22. My main blog is RJwrites22. Thanks!)**


	27. 24: Triangulum

24: Triangulum

X X X X

"We don't need money!" Steven sang, running into the house and grabbing a few shirts.

"I know a place that's always exciting!" Greg sang along, also entering and helping Steven pack.

( _Steven_ ; _**Greg**_ )

 _But could be funny!_

 _ **The shows and the sights and the lights so blinding!**_

 _So let's go today!_

 _ **The streets and the sounds and the buildings towering!**_

 _Just point me the way to..._

 _ **Subways that run from Brooklyn to the Bowery!**_

 _Empire City!_

 _ **Empire City!**_

" _And let's bring Pearl!_ " Steven finished, pointing to Pearl, who turned around in confusion.

"What?!" Greg said, confused as well, but also uneasy.

"...I don't know. Past experiences have taught me that three is a crowd," Pearl said.

Suddenly, I remembered my plans for that night. Plans that would be improved if Pearl was out of the house.

"Steven, me and Pearl haven't gotten along that well since, uh," Greg whispered to Steven, "well, since I started dating your mother."

"Pearl, come on, you'll have fun!" I said, getting up from the couch to stand next to Pearl. I allowed a rush of spontaneity to flow into the room, and felt Pearl start to ease up.

"Aw, come on!" Steven said, not realizing that I was helping his plan along. "We're all a big family. It'll be great. Just you, me, Pearl, and don't forget mom." Steven lifted his shirt, revealing his gem. Greg and Pearl gasped in response to the awkward  
/situation, and I gave another emotional push.

Once they were gone, Garnet came out of the Temple and walked into the kitchen, not noticing that I was sitting on the couch. She opened the fridge and grabbed a sandwich before heading to the Warp Pad.

"Have fun, Emerald," she called over her shoulder, surprising me.

"Uh, y-yeah, I'll try," I replied, watching as she warped away.

x x x

"So, what d'you want to do?" I asked, looking at Amethyst and Peridot. We were lounging on the couch, hanging out.

"I'm hungry," Amethyst said, eyeing a pillow as if she wanted to eat it.

"Yeah, so am I," I said, pulling out my phone. "Peridot? You want something to eat?"

"I don't _eat_ ," Peridot said, eyeing the fridge with disgust. "But I don't care if you two decide to."

"Okay," I said, turning to Amethyst. "You okay with pizza?"

"Yeah," Amethyst said with a grin. "Stuffed crust!"

"Stuffed crust," I agreed.

"I'll stuff _you_ in the crust," Peridot muttered. Amethyst laughed, causing Peridot to blush a dark green.

Pushing aside a little jolt of jealousy, I called Fish Stew Pizza and placed the order.

 _Amethyst is so funny!_ Peridot thought, and I fought to contain a scowl.

"You all right, Em?" Amethyst asked. "You seem a little tense."

"Oh, I'm fine," I replied, shoving my phone back in my pocket and leaning back into the couch cushions.

 _She's lying. I can_ _ **feel**_ _that she's tense. I wish there was some way I could make her feel better..._ Amethyst thought, grabbing a pillow and fiddling with it.

"How about we play a game?" Amethyst suggested.

"What 'game'?" Peridot asked.

"Truth or Dare!" Amethyst said, and I stifled a groan, remembering how bad I was at the game.

"Sounds simple enough," Peridot said.

"I'll start," Amethyst said, turning to me. "Truth or dare, Em?"

"Truth," I replied, smirking when Amethyst groaned in frustration.

"Are you _ever_ gonna take a dare?" she asked.

"Maybe," I replied. "My turn. Peridot, truth or dare?"

"Uhm, truth," Peridot said. I bit my lip, trying to think of a good question.

"Have you ever fused with another Gem?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"No," she answered. "Emerald?"

"Truth," I said. I didn't intend to take a dare, but I wasn't about to let Amethyst know that.

"Have you ever lost your physical form?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah," I said, adding, "I'm not quite sure how it happened, but it was before I met the Crystal Gems. According to them, I managed to bubble myself. Amethyst?"

"Dare," Amethyst said with a smirk.

"Ah, I'm horrible at coming up with these..." I groaned, thinking. "Ugh, I got nothing. Sorry."

"You're so _boring,_ " Amethyst groaned, flopping onto her back. "P-dot?"

 _I don't care, though._

"Truth," Peridot said.

"Would you _want_ to fuse with anyone?" Amethyst asked.

"It depends on who," Peridot replied. "Amethyst?"

"Truth, I guess," she said.

 _Knock-knock-knock!_

"Pizza's here!" I said, standing up and walking to the door to get the pizza. "Thanks, Jenny."

"No problem," Jenny said, turning and starting down the stairs.

"Who is your favorite Gem to fuse with?" Peridot asked, and Amethyst hummed in thought.

"Garnet," she replied. "Sugilite's so _strong_ , and she doesn't care what _anyone_ thinks! Em?"

"Truth."

x x x

Three hours later, we were still playing Truth or Dare. I was surprised, since I was so horrible at the game.

"Emma?" Amethyst asked.

"Truth," I replied, and she rolled her eyes.

"Who do you like?" she asked, and I could feel a swell of hope in her. Carefully, I pushed a bit of apathy toward her to tone down the hope, and when that didn't work, I decided to skirt the topic.

"Someone..." I said. "What about you?"

"Someone," Amethyst replied, sticking her tongue out at me. "Can't you read my mind and find out on your own?"

"It's an invasion of privacy," I said. "The only thoughts I hear are the ones on the surface, those that jump out at me. Only time I ever actively scanned someone's mind was during the whole Sardonyx fiasco, which was how I found out Pearl was behind  
it."

"But Emeralds are made to read thoughts," Peridot interjected. "I-I'm not saying you have to, though..."

"It's okay," I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket. "I'll answer your question, Amethyst."

"Okay," Amethyst said, leaning forward. "Go! Who do you like?"

"Peridot," I replied, steeling myself for a wave of disappointment that never came. Instead, I was hit with confusion and guilt.

"I-I like you, Amethyst," Peridot admitted, and I bit my lip as another wave of guilt hit me.

"And I like you, Emma," Amethyst said.

"Well, isn't this a fucked-up love triangle for the ages," I said, flopping back on the couch. "An actual _triangle_ , instead of the v-formation that romance novels love to play with."

"You know, I have an idea," Peridot said, a small smile forming on her face.

"What?" I asked, fumbling around to stick my phone back in my pocket.

"Fusion," she replied, and I sat bolt upright in surprise.

"Why?" I asked.

"Garnet's a fusion _and_ a relationship," Peridot started, "so maybe fusing could help us figure this out?"

"Yeah," Amethyst said. "I like that idea. Put on some tunes, Em! Let's mash it up!"

"Okay," I said, putting one of my playlists on shuffle and putting my phone in my pocket before standing up. "This sound good?"

"Yeah," Amethyst said, starting to dance.

"It'll work," Peridot agreed, still sitting on the couch. "You two get started. I'll join in a moment."

"Mm-hmm," I hummed, bobbing my head to the rhythm for a few seconds before starting to dance. Peridot joined in a second later, dancing in her own odd style.

I watched as Peridot and Amethyst danced, their gems starting to glow as they synchronized. Tapping into the feeling, I lost myself in the music, not missing a beat even when the song changed. I felt more than saw my own gems glowing as I closed the gap  
between the three of us, bringing us in to fusion.

x x

I opened my eyes, looking around the small room in awe as my name came to mind.

 _Fluorite_.

Surveying my form, my components shared awe as I lifted my six arms and twisted them around, noting the green and purple striping. Two pairs of arms reached behind my head to feel my hair, which was long, thick, and wavy.

 _Nice shorts,_ Amethyst commented from the shared headspace, running one pair of arms over my shorts.

 _We're_ _ **huge!**_ Peridot cried, reaching a hand up and touching the underside of the roof.

 _This feels... nice. And oddly_ _ **complete**_ _, too,_ Emerald thought, and I sat down on the floor.

 _We've gotta be fourteen feet tall!_ Peridot crowed, beaming internally.

As I looked around, considering what to do, the Warp Pad activated, heralding Garnet's return.

"Hello," she said, stepping off the pad and walking over to me. "Who might you be?"

"Fluorite," I replied. "The fusion of Peridot, Emerald, and Amethyst."

"So you're figuring out your relationship," Garnet said, and I nodded. "I saw that this was a possibility."

"Is it possible for three people to be in a relationship?" I asked, as all three of my components were unsure.

"I don't see why it wouldn't be," she replied with a shrug. "Is that what you want?"

"Yeah," I said. "Emerald, Peridot, and Amethyst agree."

"Good. Now, how do you feel? As a fusion?" Garnet asked, sitting on the couch and watching me carefully.

"I feel... happy," I answered. "And complete. From your reaction, that's a good sign."

"It is," Garnet confirmed. "You're very stable, for a three-Gem fusion."

"Sardonyx was stable," I said, speaking from the experience of Amethyst and Emerald.

"Not the first time," Garnet said. "Very few fusions are as stable as you are the first time they come to be. Stevonnie was stable, but that might have something to do with Steven being half-human."

"Emerald seems to think that my relationship won't be accepted," I said with a small frown.

"Humans do seem to prefer two-person relationships," Garnet agreed, adding, "but if someone really cares about you, they'll accept you in the end."

"Oh," I said, running a hand through my hair. "That's good."

 _Those who mind, don't matter- and those who matter, don't mind,_ Emerald thought, and I could tell that she was smirking.

"Though, I should tell you," Garnet started, and I looked her in the eyes as she removed her shades to return my gaze. "Even a relationship that produces a stable fusion will need work to last."

"Yeah..." I agreed, nodding. "Reality is tough. Relationships take work."

 _Speaking of... I wonder how Steven's trip to Empire City is going, what with Greg and Pearl's strained interactions,_ Emerald mused.

 _Pearl_ _ **voluntarily**_ _went with Steven and Greg on an overnight trip?!_ Amethyst asked, shocked.

 _Well, I_ _ **did**_ _give a bit of an emotional push to get her out of the house..._ Emerald admitted sheepishly.

"What're you thinking about?" Garnet asked, then added as an afterthought, "you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Oh, I'm just wondering how Steven, Pearl, and Greg's trip to Empire City is going," I replied.

"Most outcomes have all three coming back happy and alive, with Greg and Pearl seeing relatively eye-to-eye," Garnet said. "One outcome, though _extremely_ unlikely, has Greg suffering a heart attack at the bill."

"One outcome out of how many?" I asked, voicing Emerald's concern.

"At least thirty- no, sixty-seven, but-" Garnet said, then paused for a minute before concluding, "Over a hundred."

"So that's a less than one percent chance," I said, happy that everyone would most likely be okay.

 _Her abundance of possibilities makes the many-worlds theory sound_ _ **quite**_ _likely,_ Emerald thought, _I wonder if any of them have the "sneople" that Ronaldo obsesses over?_

 _Sneople?_ Peridot asked, confused.

 _Snake-people. Ronaldo thinks they're secretly in charge of the government,_ Emerald replied. _He also managed to figure out the Diamond Authority and Homeworld's original plan for Earth, but I have_ _ **no**_ _idea how he came to it._

 _ **Really?**_ _You're an Emerald!_ Peridot thought, _You're_ _ **made**_ _with the ability to extract information from the minds of any sentient being!_

 _Doesn't mean I_ _ **do**_ _,_ Emerald thought, with an air of finality.

 _I'm tired,_ Amethyst interjected, and I yawned.

 _Yeah... so am I, come to think of it,_ Emerald agreed.

"I'm gonna go to bed," I said, standing up and carefully making my way to Emerald's room. "Goodnight, Garnet."

"Good night, Fluorite."

x x

The next morning, I woke up to find myself between Amethyst and Peridot. They were already awake, seemingly waiting for me to wake up before getting out of bed.

"Morning, Em," Amethyst said with an amused smile.

"G'morning," I said, unintentionally reverting to my native British accent in my half-asleep state. "Wha're we doin' t'day?"

"Emerald?" Peridot asked, unsettled by my change in accent. "Are you okay?"

"Yea," I replied with a yawn. "Jus' tired. I need ta wake up a bi' more before I can-" I paused, yawning again "-before I'll sound like I usually do. I always sound like this righ' after I wake up."

"You do? I've never noticed," Amethyst said. "You sound normal when you come out of your room in the morning."

"Tha's because I wait a while before gettin' ou' of bed," I explained.

"Why is there even a discrepancy in the first place?" Peridot asked. "You've never displayed any reason for it to occur."

"I was born in a different part of the world," I answered, rubbing my eyes and yawning. "They speak a bit differently there. Kinda like Garnet, actually... I lived there for most of my life, but about five years ago I moved to Jersey, and I started  
talking like the people there."

"Oh," Peridot said, nodding her understanding. "Interesting..."

X

 **(AN: Gonna post the rest of the chapters for the first arc today! And, I'm sorry that I didn't show the whole game of Truth or Dare, but I'm horrible at it, both playing and writing. I tried looking up suggestions online, but none seemed appealing to me.**

 **Thanks for reading!)**


	28. 25: Shorty Squad Style

25: Shorty Squad Style

X X X X

A few days later, Peridot and I were sitting on the couch in the main room when Steven came in with a gift for Peridot.

"Special delivery!" Steven said, handing Peridot the parcel.

"Oh. Wow. Thanks," Peridot said, tearing open the gift to reveal a tablet computer. "It's a... a rectangle."

Steven picked up the bow from the wrapping and stuck it to Peridot's hair.

"And a tablet!" he said, taking the tablet and turning it on. "My dad bought it, but he decided he didn't need it. He said something about oversaturation of media being a plague to one's mind, so I thought you might like it. Here," he set the tablet on  
the couch and demonstrated how to use it. "You can use your fingers to work it."

"Like my old finger-screens!" Peridot gasped, awe-struck as she scrolled through the pages of apps. Looking over her shoulder, I recognized various apps.

 _Tumblr, Cheepbox, Facebook, TubeTube, Sparx - wait, why did Greg get a_ _ **dating**_ _app?_ I thought, getting sidetracked by the icon. _Oh, there's Vine... I wonder what kinds of crazy things Peridot would do "for the Vine"..._

"But now you have the whole worldwide web to hang out on," Steven said, watching Peridot play with the tablet.

"Worldwide? Ha!" Peridot scoffed, "I had the ability to search and retrieve data from across _multiple_ star systems."

"Hmm, impressive..." Steven said, putting a hand to his chin in thought. "But I can do you one better. TubeTube."

Steven touched the TubeTube icon and it opened to a cat video. Peridot watched it, intrigued.

"Why was this documented?" she asked.

"Oh, cat videos are a viral hit," I replied, ready to give a thorough explanation. "Many people find cats both adorable and amusing, so people record-"

"You can log your thoughts in the internet, too," Steven interjected, cutting me off. "You just have to keep it under one hundred forty characters."

"That's _so many_ people!" Peridot gasped, misunderstanding. She continued to watch the video, which showed a cat - obviously on catnip - running around a kitchen, knocking down various pots and pans.

"I can make you an account so you can start logging as soon as you want," Steven said, taking back the tablet once the video ended. He opened Cheepbox and started to make an account.

"I really, really like this, but it's a shame it doesn't come attached to your body," Peridot said, chuckling in anticipation. She then gasped as an idea came to her. "Oh wait!"

I watched as Peridot ran to the storage cupboard under the stairs and rifled through it for something.

"I'm gonna leave the profile stuff blank for you to fill in later," Steven said, finishing up. "There."

Having found whatever she was looking for, Peridot came back and snatched the tablet out of Steven's hands.

"Gimme!" she said, moving back to her work area and using duct tape to attack velcro to the back of the tablet, as well as making a velcro armband. Upon finishing, she gave a victorious laugh. "Behold! My innovation!"

Peridot showcased her invention, making various sound effects and poses as she attached the tablet to her arm with the velcro.

"...I've harnessed the power of your interlocking fabric strips," she said once her show was over.

"Good thing I grew out of those shoes," Steven chuckled, noting the dismantled velcro trainers by Peridot's feet..

"To have tech again," Peridot sighed, tapping on the tablet. "It feels good when everything is at your fingertips."

 _Hey, don't I have Peridot's floaty-fingers in a bubble in my closet?_ I thought, remembering how I had snatched the fingers when we had captured Peridot almost a year ago. _Meh. She doesn't need them anymore._

Amethyst walked in the door, having returned from eating lunch on the boardwalk. Knowing her, that could mean anything from eating pizza to eating a _car._

"Yo," she said, "you guys look like you're having fun."

"Oh, Amethyst," Peridot said, showing off her tablet. "What do you think?"

"You look like a square," Amethyst replied, grinning at Peridot.

"It's a rectangle," Peridot corrected.

"Heh, truth," Amethyst said. "Anyway, you three ready to go or what?"

"Go?" Peridot asked, confused.

"Yeah," Steven answered. "Amethyst and I were gonna hang out, and we wanted you and Emma to come, too."

"Hang out?" Peridot asked, then answered her own question. "Oh, yeah. That's a _friend_ thing to do. So, where are we hanging out, _friends?_ "

 _So we're keeping the relationship secret, then,_ I mused, giving a mental shrug.

x x x

"Ta-da!" Steven said, stopping in front of the entrance to Funland. "Welcome to Funland!"

"You brought me to a sign!" Peridot said, intrigued by the sign.

"Nah, nah," Amethyst said, gesturing to the inside of the park. "You got to go inside."

We entered Funland, and my attention was instantly captured by a roller coaster speeding by with people screaming as they rode.

"A speed pattern transportation circuit," Peridot chuckled, and I grinned at her adorable technobabble.

"And a roller coaster," Steven said, not really understanding what Peridot had said.

"You've gotta do the most fun thing in Funland first," Amethyst said, clearly referring to the coaster.

"Hmm. Bold," Peridot said, looking up at the track. "Let's follow this logic!"

We ran to the coaster's entrance as a bell rang in the background.

"Four, please," Steven said, and I eyed the height chart with suspicion.

"Sure," the ride operator said with a smile on his face. "We got some new rules, first."

Steven stepped up to the height chart, which showed that he wasn't tall enough. Amethyst got the same result, and Peridot would've gotten through if the operator hadn't pushed her hair flat to show that she, too, was too short to ride.

I stepped toward the chart, and the line came to eye-level. However, I stepped away from the ride to rejoin Amethyst, Peridot, and Steven.

"Aren't you gonna go?" Steven asked.

"Not without you guys," I replied, and Peridot beamed.

"Well, that stinks," Amethyst said as we walked away from the coaster. Steven sighed in disappointment.

"We'll just have to maintain a healthy lifestyle in hopes we grow before the end of the season," he said.

"Ugh, of course," Amethyst said, slapping a hand to her forehead. "Let's just grow." She shapeshifted, adopting a new outfit to fit her taller form. She wore a white t-shirt, with the sleeves rolled to make it more of a tank top, jeans with rips in the  
knees, black Converse, and a backwards black-and-white hat.

"Shapeshifting!" Steven gasped, shifting his legs so they were longer.

"Hmm," Peridot grunted, sweating as she attempted to shapeshift.

"Uh, Peridot?" Steven said, concerned.

"Uh, I... I must be a little rusty," Peridot said, breathing heavily from the exertion. "Why don't you just go?"

"Aw, what?" Steven asked, slightly disappointed that Peridot couldn't join them.

"What?" Peridot replied.

"You sure?" Amethyst asked.

"Sure I'm sure," Peridot answered. "I can just look up what a roller coaster feels like. Just hurry up and go so you can hurry up and come back."

"Oh, okay," Amethyst said, heading off with Steven to ride the coaster. I followed along, then saw that the coaster had a few loops, so I returned to Peridot.

"Why aren't you going?" Peridot asked when she saw that I wasn't on the coaster with Amethyst and Steven.

"There's loops, and when I go upside-down on rides I feel like I'm gonna die," I replied. "Hey, if you want to know what a roller coaster feels like emotionally, I think I can channel their emotions to you."

"No thanks," Peridot said, looking down at her tablet as she Googled various things. "I'd rather not feel the urge to expel food I haven't eaten."

"Ah, nausea," I said, nodding thoughtfully. "That isn't why I don't like going upside-down. It's more of a feeling of impending doom. Or panic, I guess."

"There are forces to keep you in the container, though," Peridot said, not looking up from her Googling. "The centrifugal and centripetal forces prevent escape from the vehicle."

"Yeah," I agreed, looking up at the passing coaster car to see our companions. "Looks like Steven and Amethyst are having fun."

x x x

A little while later, we exited the House of Mirrors and were looking for somewhere else to go.

"Let's see who can eat the most chili dogs before we go on the Tilt-a-Whirl," Amethyst said, and I rolled my eyes.

"More like Tilt-a- _Hurl_ ," I said, chuckling at my pun.

"Steven, Amethyst, Emerald!" Peridot gasped, having stopped by the ring-toss game, which offered large alien plushies as prizes. "Look at this being! Its large head, swollen with thoughts! Those compassionate eyes. It understands... I need it. _Now!_ "

"Peridot, that's a prize. You have to win it first," Steven said, ringing the bell on the stand.

The roller coaster operator ran over to the ring toss stand and clambered into it, breathing heavily.

"Hey there, Steven," he panted.

"Mr. Smiley, you're working the ring toss, too?" Steven asked.

"Yeah," replied Mr. Smiley. "You can say we're a little "fun"derstaffed."

"I get it," Steven laughed.

"I'm glad you're seeing the humor in it, Steven," Mr. Smiley said, "because I haven't seen a bed in six days!"

 _Somebody needs to help this man,_ I thought, feeling his stress and exhaustion wash over me.

"Oh," said Steven with a nervous laugh.

Peridot grabbed a ring off the counter and threw it at the bottles, but missed, hitting something else.

"I win!" she crowed happily.

"Um, well..." Steven started, unsure of how to break it to her.

"You have to land the rings first, broski!" Amethyst said, picking up a ring. "Shorty Squad throw!"

We all picked up rings and threw them at the bottles, but missed.

"Okay, last chance," Amethyst said when we each had one ring left. "We got this."

We all threw our last rings in unison, but they all missed.

"This biz is rigged!" Amethyst snapped.

"I didn't save Earth for _this_ ," grumbled Peridot.

"Sorry, Peridot," Steven said.

"Hmm. No. We're gonna get you that prize," Amethyst said thoughtfully. "Hey, Mr. Smiley. Is that Onion trying to light the roller coaster on _fire?_ "

"I'm not falling for that one again," said Mr. Smiley with a smile. Then, the screaming started. "Oh!"

Turning around, we saw that Onion was holding two _flaming cones of cotton candy_ next to the roller coaster.

"No! I'm still paying off the last lawsuit!" Mr. Smiley cried, hopping back over the edge of the stand and rushing to stop Onion.

"Heh, good old Onion," Amethyst laughed, stretching her arm to drop a ring on a bottle.

 _How the_ _ **fuck**_ _does a little kid light_ _ **cotton candy**_ _on_ _ **fire?!**_ I thought, worried for the safety of the world.

"All this running around," Mr. Smiley panted as he climbed back into the game stand. "I'm not even in a union."

"Yo, Mr. S," Amethyst said. "While you were gone, Peri got a ring."

"I did?" Peridot asked.

"We're lying," Amethyst whispered to Peridot.

"Oh, uh, yes, I did land the ring," Peridot said, sweating. "I also do not steal Steven's clothes when he's not looking."

"What?" Steven asked, confused.

"Huh. Would you look at that? And I thought this thing was rigged." Mr. Smiley said, bending down and grabbing something. "Here you go, kid."

Peridot opened her arms for the big alien plushie, but Mr. Smiley but an alien puppet on her finger. Peridot opened her eyes slowly and looked at the tiny alien, confused.

"It's a little sister," Mr. Smiley said with a laugh.

"Um, excuse me, but you're wrong," Peridot said, pointing at the big alien. "I'm supposed to win that one."

"You mean the big guy? Sorry. That one's ten rings."

x x x

Fifteen minutes later, we were sitting on a bench in Funland, discussing shapeshifting. Peridot revealed that she couldn't shapeshift, and Steven offered to help her.

"Yeah, man. Mmm! We'll give you the shape-shifting lowdown," Amethyst said, ruffling Peridot's hair. "Shorty Squad style."

We went to the beach, where Steven and Amethyst attempted to teach Peridot to shapeshift.

"Aren't you gonna help, Em?" Amethyst asked, looking over to where I sat, watching them.

"I _am_ helping," I replied. "Moral support."

"Can _you_ shapeshift?" she pressed, and I rolled my eyes, turning myself into a cat for a few seconds before returning to my usual form.

After a few more minutes of trying, Peridot gave up, going to sit by the shore of the ocean.

"My lack of skill is an objective fact," she explained. "I'm an Era-Two Peridot. I am new. Resources are dwindling on Homeworld. They can't make Gems like they used to. That's why they give Era-Two Peridots technological enhancements. Because we... don't  
have powers."

"Per, I'mma be really real with you for a sec," Amethyst said, moving to stand in front of Peridot. "This whole time we've been here, you've just been focusing on what you _can't_ do. Of _course_ you're not having any fun. You think that all  
you are is who you _could_ be, but we don't hang out with you because of who you could be. We like _you._ "

Peridot ignored Amethyst in favor of using her tablet.

"I know you just heard me," Amethyst said, getting frustrated. Peridot was frustrated as well, typing in "CLODS" to CheepBox. The fourteenth word exceeded the character limit, only coming up as a "C".

"Stop playing with that thing," Amethyst said, grabbing the tablet. "Ugh. Gimme that!"

"NO!"

"You don't need it!"

"You don't know that!"

"Yes... I... Do!" Amethyst said, managing to wrestle the tablet from Peridot's grip.

"Wait!" Peridot cried, watching as Amethyst considered what to do with the tech. "Wait-wait-wait-wait-w-w-w-wait!"

Amethyst came to a decision then, throwing the tablet to the ocean.

"NO! IT'S ALL THAT I AM!" Peridot shouted, reaching for the tablet.

For a moment, I thought time had frozen. The tablet had stopped in its arc to the water, and nobody was moving. Then, I saw a seagull flying by and realized that something had stopped the tablet mid-air.

"Peridot," Steven said, shocked and delighted. "Metal powers!"

"...Dude," Amethyst said, grinning.

I watched in astonishment as Peridot gestured for the tablet to return to her. Steven was thinking about scenarios where Peridot's newfound ability would be useful.

"Do you know what this means?" Steven asked. "You can open really tight jars. You can remove staples without a staple remover. You can open doors without having to touch them after you wash your hands."

"No!" Peridot interjected. "I know _exactly_ what I can do."

With that, she turned around and ran back towards Funland. We followed her there, stopping at the ring toss game. Mr. Smiley was asleep in the chair by the bottles.

"Here," I muttered, reaching over the counter and picking up a stack of ten rings for Peridot to use.

Peridot carefully levitated each ring onto the bottles, keeping her tablet aloft next to her.

"Ten!" she crowed once the last ring was on a bottle. "That's ten!"

"Wah!" Mr. Smiley cried, waking with a start, "That's ten, alright! Well, I guess you won fair and square, or fair and triangle. Because your head looks like a triangle. Here you go, kid." Chuckling at his own joke, he grabbed the big alien plushie and  
handed it over the counter to Peridot, who hugged it tightly with a huge smile.

"Hehe, you did it, Peridot," Steven said, proud of her.

"Give it up for Pea-Pod!" Amethyst said.

"No, give it up for the Shorty Squad," Peridot corrected, and I grinned, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"Yeah, the Shorty Squad."

X

 **(AN: Some notes on things**

 **1\. CheepBox is, kinda obviously, Twitter**

 **2\. Sparx is Tinder**

 **3\. Height-wise, Emma is a few inches taller than Peridot, Amethyst, and Steven, but five or six inches shorter than Lapis and Pearl, so Em's in the Shorty Squad.)**


	29. 26: Emiliano Supremo

26: Emiliano Supremo

X X X X

"Hey, Em, where you going?" Amethyst called from the kitchen as I walked to the front door.

"Steakfries says that there's a race going on by the mountain," I replied, "and I've never been to an illegal streetrace."

"Sounds fun," Amethyst said, grabbing a slightly moldy sandwich and stuffing it into her mouth. "See you later."

"See ya," I called over my shoulder, leaving the house and jumping to the laundry hand, where I warped to the forest by the mountain.

Walking out of the forest, I saw the Cool Kids, Ronaldo, and a few other bystanders waiting around. Ronaldo held a scooter, evidently intending to race with it.

"Emma! Over here!" Ronaldo called once he spotted me, waving me over to the group.

"Hey," I said, walking toward them.

Suddenly, I heard a car speeding up behind me. Instinctively, I jumped, soaring at least ten feet in the air and coming back down behind the car, which had parked. The driver of the yellow sports car got out, and I stormed over to him, intending to give him a piece of my mind.

"Ugh! You can't just _do_ that!" I snapped, pointing my finger at him accusingly.

"Do _what?_ " he asked, raising a perfect eyebrow and looking down at me.

"You almost ran me over!" I spat, trying to come up with an insult. "Watch where you're going, you prissy jerk!"

"Woah woah woah, I'm just here to race," he said, smirking at me before turning to the group. "Who wants to race?"

"I'll go," Jenny said, stepping to the pizza car and starting it up. Kevin got back into his car and started it up again, driving up the mountain with Jenny following behind.

A few minutes later, they came back, with Kevin in first.

"Ugh! My practice didn't pay off at all!" Jenny groaned, turning off her car. "That was _so_ bad!"

Kevin got out of his car, blasting techno from the radio.

"I know, baby. I'm the worst," he said, and Jenny scoffed. "Anyone else think they can beat me and my Himitsu X-12 on the downhill course, step right up." Everyone backed away, silent. "Come on, how am I going to get a cool-down lap if no one wants to go?"

 _Maybe stop being a_ _ **brat**_ _and you'll have friends to race with you!_ I thought, glaring at Kevin.

Suddenly, I heard the rev of an engine as a new car drove up. It parked, and Stevonnie stepped out, glaring at Kevin.

"I'll race you!" they said, pulling their hair out of their jacket.

"Huh?" Kevin said, confused by their presence.

Ronaldo seemed to recognize the car, rushing toward it on his scooter excitedly and whispering to Stevonnie.

"Is that a '96 Supremo?" he asked.

"Uh... I think it's a Dondai?" Stevonnie replied, uncertain.

"A Supremo _is_ a Dondai!" Ronaldo said.

"Wow. Really?" Stevonnie asked.

"Are you saying you don't know the true power of the Supremo?" Ronaldo pressed, making Stevonnie nervous.

Kevin gave a triumphant laugh. " _That's_ why I knew those brats at the car wash - they're _you!_ Your whole "two kids in a beautiful trench coat" routine won't fool me this time, so don't even try it!"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Stevonnie spat, slapping a hand on the hood of their car. Ronaldo scootered back over to the group. "I'll show you what I'm made of when I beat you at this race!"

"Heh. I see what's going on here." Kevin said with a smirk.

"Do you?" Stevonnie asked disdainfully, crossing their arms.

"You've had a taste of Kevin, and now you're obsessed."

"...What?"

"I get it," Kevin said with mock pity. "I have that effect on people. It's cute. But aren't I a little old for you?"

"Gah!" Stevonnie grunted. "Do you want to race or not?"

"The start is at the top of the mountain. We go when the clock strikes the hour. First one to the bottom wins," Kevin explained, then gave a smug smirk. "but you don't have to worry about that last part."

Stevonnie growled, watching Kevin get into his car and speed off up the mountain.

"That guy is going _down._ "

x x x

Twenty minutes later, we were looking up the mountain at the motionless Supremo.

"The Supremo isn't moving! Ugh, that's it. I'm gonna go up there and check if they're okay," Jenny said, turning to get in her car.

"Wait!" Ronaldo said, pointing up at the car, which started back up.

A few minutes after, Kevin sped into the clearing, and I smelled something odd in the air.

 _Is that..._ _ **nitrous oxide?!**_ I thought, looking at the car.

"Aw!" Jenny said, disappointed. "I was rooting for you, Dondai!"

"Kevin is the worst! Boo!" Ronaldo shouted, and I got an idea. I stepped over to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of earshot of the group.

"I have an idea," I said, pulling out my phone. "Gimme a sec."

I opened up my contacts and made a call.

"You'd better not be watching that stupid Canadian soap," I muttered, sighing in relief when the phone was answered. "Hey, Dot, you know that car outside the barn? ...yeeees, the green one... How long would it take you to modify it so it can go really fast? ...you have nitrous oxide? Good, but faster than that... a supercharger? Hey, what about _both?_ Would that kill a human? ...not if done correctly... hey, could you do that, then? Yes? Okay, how long would it take? ...Twenty minutes. Okay. See you in twenty."

"Who's that?" Ronaldo asked, holding onto his scooter protectively.

"Friend of mine," I replied evasively. "C'mon, the barn is about a twenty minute walk from here. We're gonna beat Kevin into the ground."

"What do you mean, _we?_ " Ronaldo asked, following me into the forest. "Both of us are gonna drive?"

"Sort of..." I said. "Remember the rave a couple years ago?"

"Emiliano's gonna race?" he said, astonished. "But... Kevin'll know right away that they aren't human..."

"Shades for the eyes and a baggy hoodie for the arms," I said, smirking.

"Uhm, I don't have a driver's license," Ronaldo said, nervous.

"We're gonna be in an illegal streetrace in a likely illegal car, in the form of an illogical being, and you're worried about _not having a license?_ " I asked, confused by his priorities. "I have _two_ licenses, Steakfries. Britain and Jersey. So I have enough for _both_ of us."

When we got to the barn, we found that Peridot had moved the car into the barn. Lapis was sitting by the toolbox, holding a wrench.

"Hey, Emerald," Lapis said, waving her wrench at me.

"Wrench!" Peridot said, holding out her hand for the tool. Lapis handed it over, and received a screwdriver in return. "Almost done, Emerald!"

"Great," I said, watching as she levitated herself around under the car on a sheet of metal.

"And... done!" Peridot said, levitating out from under the car. "Nitrous canisters _and_ a supercharger! This baby can go three-twenty, _easy._ "

" _Three hundred twenty_ miles per hour?" I asked, slightly terrified about the safety of the car.

"Uh, kilometers per hour," Peridot said, floating her tablet over and Googling something. "That would be two hundred in miles per hour."

"Can it drift?" Ronaldo asked, and Peridot tilted her head in consideration.

"Give me another few minutes and it will," she said, grabbing the wrench and getting back on the metal sheet to fix the car some more.

"Okay," I said, stepping away from the car and turning to look at Ronaldo. "You ready? I've got music if we need it."

"What are you doing?" Lapis asked, standing up and coming to watch.

"Fusing," I replied, taking out my phone and putting a playlist on shuffle before handing it to her. "Hold this for a minute.

"Oh...kay," she said, holding the phone and turning it over in confusion.

I started dancing, watching from the corner of my eye as Ronaldo joined me. The song changed to a slower tune, and I moved closer, starting a sort of waltz.

After less than a minute, my gems glowed blindingly bright, and I lost individual awareness.

x x

"Woah," Lapis gasped, looking up at me. I looked down, finding myself towering over her. "Who are you?"

"Emerald! Human! I'm finished with the car!" Peridot called, running out of the barn. She skidded to a halt upon seeing me, her jaw dropping in shock. "Who are _you?_ "

"Emiliano," I replied, concentrating for a moment to shapeshift myself down to almost seven feet tall instead of my default height of eight feet. As I changed height, I generated a hoodie over my lower arms, leaving rips under the sleeves in case I wanted to use all four arms, and a pair of mirrored sunglasses to hide that I had four eyes. "And the human is named Ronaldo."

"Okay," Peridot said, leading me into the barn to the car, where the door was open. "I rewired the radio to give controls for the boosts. The power button turns on the nitrous, and the volume controls work the power level of the supercharger."

"And the drifting?" I asked, getting into the car and buckling my seatbelt.

"Pull this thingy," Peridot said, gesturing to the lever that normally controlled the wipers. "By the way, why do you need a really fast car?"

"This creepy guy, who's also a pompous clod, raced against Stevonnie - the fusion of Steven and his friend Connie - and used nitrous to beat them. Emma thinks it's cheating, and wants to give him a taste of his own medicine, so to speak," I replied. "Ronaldo knew that Stevonnie's car could drift, so Emma figured he'd be a good co-conspirator, since the pompous clod can too."

 _I've_ _ **gotta**_ _see this race,_ Peridot thought, and Emma grinned internally.

"Want a lift to the race?" I asked, reaching back and opening the rear door.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, clambering into the car and shutting the door behind herself. "Let's go."

I started the car, shifting into reverse and backing out of the barn slowly. Once I was out far enough, I shifted into drive and sped off to the race.

"Anyone else?" Kevin asked, and Emma growled within me. I turned off the car, quietly opening the back passenger door so Peridot could sneak out and join the bystanders. Once she was out, I opened my door, checking that my lower set of arms was hidden and my shades secure on my face before stepping out.

"I'll race you," I said, crossing both pairs of arms and glaring at him through my shades.

"Who are _you?_ " Kevin asked, approaching me.

"M'name's Emiliano," I replied, looking down at him. "And I'm here to _race_ , not chat."

"So you think you can beat me," he smirked, chuckling. "Let's go, then."

 _She won't see it coming when I use my nitro boost,_ Kevin thought, mentally laughing hysterically.

 _Oh, I_ _ **will**_ _..._ I thought, then, _and I'm_ _ **not a girl!**_ _I'm_ _ **agender**_ _, you bigot!_

I got back in my car, waiting for Kevin to start up the mountain. Once he sped off, I followed, not using any speed boosts to give Kevin the illusion of an easy win.

 _Heh. There's no_ _ **way**_ _she can keep up with me!_ Kevin thought. Emma bristled in my mind, and I frowned.

"You doing all right there, beautiful?" Kevin asked, smirking at me. "Why does such a pretty girl have a name like 'Emiliano'?"

"I'm _not_ a _girl_ ," I snapped, not looking at him. "I'm agender."

" _Sure..._ " Kevin said, looking down at his watch. "We start when the clock strikes the hour."

"'Kay," I said, looking at my own watch, which hit 9:59 as I watched. Kevin revved his engine, and I rolled both sets of eyes at his antics.

When the clock hit ten, Kevin sped off, leaving me in the dust. Moments later, I hit the gas, sticking my lower set of arms out of my hoodie and turning up the supercharger.

Soon enough, I had caught up to him. I saw a sharp cliff ahead, and remembering what Stevonnie had done, drifted through the corner. Kevin came up beside me, smirking. Luckily he didn't look at anything except my face, since I was using all my arms to drive.

Kevin passed me, and I increased the power of the supercharger, giving an extra boost of speed that set me ahead of him again.

For most of the race, we were neck-and-neck. Then, we got close to the end, and I caught a thought from Kevin.

 _Bout time to use the nitro,_ Kevin said, and I saw from the corner of my eyes that he was reaching for his booster. It was a straight shot to the end of the track, about a mile and a half, with at least twenty meters after to stop, so I jacked up the supercharger and hit the nitrous.

"Ha hahahahaha!" I cackled, zooming past Kevin at ninety miles per hour. He hit his own nitrous and started to catch up, but I floored the gas, watching with my bottom pair of eyes as the speedometer went past one hundred, then one-fifty, and finally hit one-eighty. The next thirty seconds were a blur, ending with me at the bottom of the track, climbing out of the car.

In the rush of adrenaline caused by rocketing down a mountain at breakneck speeds, I didn't notice that my mirrored shades had reverted to clear glasses and both sets of arms were sticking out of my hoodie.

Kevin came to a stop beside me, getting out of his car and gaping at me in shock.

"What the _hell?!_ " he said, watching as I stepped into full view of everyone there. "What _are_ you?"

"Uh- wha- oh-" I stammered, looking down at myself with one set of eyes and at the crowd with the other. All of them were staring at me in shock, with awe mixed in. I felt disgust from Kevin, as well as anger from being beaten.

"Yeah, what are you?" Buck asked, but he was merely curious.

"I- u-u-u-u-u-"

Suddenly, everything went black as I came undone.

x x

"Ah!" I gasped, sitting up and rubbing my head. Looking around, I saw that Ronaldo had been thrown onto the ground a few feet away by our unstable defusion.

"What happened?" he asked, turning to look at me, then down at himself. "This isn't right..."

I looked down at myself, noticing that I was wearing his shirt over my own. Luckily, he was wearing an undershirt, so there wasn't any public embarrassment.

"Uh, here," I said, taking his shirt off and handing it to him. "I think it was the shock that did it."

"What the _hell_ just happened?!" Kevin screeched, stomping over and towering over me.

"Get away from me, douchebag," I spat, watching from the corner of my eye as Peridot snuck back into the car. Once she was in, I turned and walked away with a flip of my hair. "Bye!"'

"What _are_ you?!"

X

 **(Emiliano is back! And so is Kevin. Eugh,** ** _Kevin_** **...**

 **Anyway, the science of Emiliano's car might not be accurate, but I did my best.)**


	30. 27: Food Fight

27: Food Fight

X X X X

One afternoon, about a week later, I was walking down the boardwalk when I saw a bunch of people lying on the ground, in distress.

"Too... many... carbs..." one person groaned, and I saw a fry-covered pizza slice lying on the ground in front of him.

"I said, don't look at me!" Peedee screamed at Steven. They stood outside the fry shop, but Peedee was in a pizza costume, which confused me.

"W-what happened?" Steven asked, startled by his friend screaming at him.

"I violated the food treaty," Peedee replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Years ago... my dad and Kofi signed an agreement to not steal each other's business, but when I fried up those mozzarella sticks, I reignited the hot oil of war." Peedee sighed, putting his hand over his face.

Steven sighed as well, feeling guilty. "Don't blame yourself. I was the one who wanted to shake things up."

"Oh, yeah," said Peedee, giving Steven an accusatory look. "It's _your_ fault."

"Hey, Steven!" Mr. Fryman called from the fry stand. "As a valued customer, I want to know your thoughts on a new menu item." he pulled out a fried pizza slice, presenting it to Steven. "Deep-fried Pizza!"

"A-actually, could I just get some fries?" Steven asked.

"Sorry, we're all out of fries," Fryman said with a shrug.

"What?! Even the bits?!" Steven cried, saddened.

"We have pizza bits now," Fryman said, offering Steven a tray of pizza bits. I stepped up to the counter, handing over a few dollars for the pizza bits, which looked delicious.

"But how can you guys be out of fries? This is the fry shop! You're _Fryman!_ " Steven said. "Look at your hair."

"What about my hair?" Fryman asked, self-consciously reaching up to his head.

"I can't connect to Fish Stew Pizza's wifi," Ronaldo groaned from the back of the shop, tapping at the keyboard of his laptop.

"Hey, you got no time for interneting," Fryman said, taking Ronaldo's laptop and giving him a bag of food. "You're doing deliveries now."

"But I don't even have a car!" Ronaldo protested.

"You got those wheelie shoes, don't ya?"

"Yeah..."

Ronaldo stood up, skating out of the shop on his wheelie trainers.

"Use heelies to escape your feelies!" I called after him, recalling something I had seen on Tumblr.

Steven, looking and feeling guilty, walked away into Fish Stew Pizza. I took out my phone, snapping a picture of Ronaldo skating around and getting on Tumblr as I walked down the boardwalk. When I passed the wall between the fry shop and the pizza shop, I suddenly got service, which surprised me.

 _So they're using some sort of jammer to stop Steakfries from getting wifi..._ I thought, posting the picture and tagging Ronaldo's blog in it before going to Google and looking up whether or not it was possible to jam a wifi signal. It was.

x x x

That evening, I was hanging out in my room with Amethyst and Peridot when I heard talking from the main room.

"Ronaldo!" Steven exclaimed, and I got off the bed, walking to the arch and listening through it.

"Hmm?"

"Kiki!"

"Hmm?"

"You're sitting next to each other," Steven said, and I bit my lip, quietly stepping out of my room and walking over to the kitchen.

"Where are you going with this, Steven?" Kiki asked.

"You guys should pretend to be in love!" Steven explained. "There won't be any time for fighting if your families have to plan a wedding together."

"Well... I guess we could try?" Kiki said with a shrug. "Anything to get this war over with."

"All right!" Steven said, excited that his plan would go through. "We'll fight this war with the power of love!"

"No way!" Ronaldo cried. "We can't do this because I... have a girlfriend."

 _That explains why he stopped pursuing me..._ I thought, feeling that he was sincere.

"Where's she at, though?" Jenny asked.

"You said what I was thinking," Peedee said.

"Okay, you don't have to pretend to get married," Steven conceded. "Just pretend to be in love long enough to get this feud over with."

"I... got a bad feeling about this," Ronaldo said.

"Shut up, Ronaldo! Nothing bad is going to happen, and you'll get to spend time with the cutest girl in Beach City," Jenny said, pulling her sister close and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, Emma, do you think you could help us?" Steven asked, turning around to look at me expectantly.

"Ugh, _fine,_ " I grumbled. "But if anything bad happens, it's _your_ fault."

x x x

The next day, I stationed myself behind the Fish Stew Pizza sign and started my work.

"Ah, Kiki, my darling," Ronaldo said, holding up a bouquet of flowers. I flooded him with affectionate emotions to fuel the facade, and waited for my next target to give the cue.

"Oh, Ronaldo, my sweet," Kiki said, holding up an identical bouquet. I gave her a similar flood of emotion, and the two ran to each other, Steven watching from a distance.

"My dear, sweet Kiki, who I love with all my blog," Ronaldo said, standing in front of Kiki and presenting her with his flowers.

"What the..." Mr. Fryman said, looking out the window of the fry shop. I had given him a flash of shock, causing him to turn around and see the spectacle.

"Oh, Ronaldo, you're so sweet and quirky in a way I can tolerate," Kiki giggled, and I flashed Kofi with similar shock to get him out of his shop.

"Kiki, why aren't you in here, working your shift?!" he asked, running out the door. Fryman exited his shop, walking toward the "lovebirds".

"Yeah, come on, Ronaldo," he said. "We got customers to take care of."

"But, Dad, ever since this war started, I've had to spend countless hours away from my beloved Kiki," Ronaldo said, drawing on my provided emotion.

"What?!" Kofi and Fryman said in unison, the shock all their own at that point.

"It's true," said Kiki. "The only way for us to be together is if we quit working."

"Are you telling me that you two are involved in a romantic relationship?!" Steven asked, his acting rather terrible.

"That's right, Steven," Ronaldo replied, and I looked around the boardwalk, surveying the other people to see how they reacted. "We have been for some time now."

 _Oh, I hope Ronaldo wants to hang out with me before his shift,_ a girl thought from down the boardwalk. I focused in on her, scanning her surface thoughts and finding out that she was Ronaldo's girlfriend.

 _Fuck!_ I thought, not noticing the affection I was pushing out turn into dread.

"You two are only hugging, right?" Kofi asked, watching Ronaldo suspiciously.

"Uh, yes, sir!" Ronaldo said nervously, and I rushed to the edge of the roof, leaping off and running to the Temple so I didn't have to witness the drama that was sure to go down.

x x x

"Ugh, what are we gonna do?!" Jenny groaned from the main room. I stood up from the bed, walking to the curtained arch that served as my door and listening through it.

"Hmm..." Steven hummed thoughtfully. "Peedee said the last time the war ended because your dad and his dad came together to sign a treaty. How did that happen?"

"Well, you know where Suitcase Sam's is?" Kiki asked. "It used to be a restaurant called The Everything Buffet."

"Oh, yeah!" Jenny said. "They sold everything!"

 _Everything as in everything_ _ **food**_ _, or everything_ _ **everything?**_ I mused, curious as to the nature of The Everything Buffet.

"But it wrecked the boardwalk's economy! Not one store could compete," Kiki said, confusing me further. "But just when everyone thought all hope was lost, our dad and Mr. Fryman teamed up and ran them out of town."

"Hmm. Another restaurant, eh?" Steven asked. "I think I have a plan."

x x x

The next afternoon, I was woken up by Amethyst jumping on top of me.

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" she said, poking my belly. "You gotta help us set up!"

"Se' up for wha'?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes with a yawn. "An' gimme a minute. I gotta wake up some more before I can come ou'."

"Steven's opening a restaurant!" Amethyst replied, pulling me out of bed and into the main room. "Em's awake, guys!"

"Good," Pearl said, handing me a stack of chairs. "Put these at the tables. Three each."

"'Kay," I yawned, walking over to the tables that had been set up. When I got between them, I set down three of the chairs and started putting the other three at one of the tables. "Wha're we servin'?"

"Fries and pizza bagels," Amethyst replied, showing me the menu.

"No drinks?" I asked, "Why aren' there any drinks?"

"Didn't think of that..." Amethyst said, turning around to look at Steven. "Why aren't there any drinks on the menu?"

"I was just gonna give them water..." he replied, walking over to us. "Emma, why are you talking like that?"

"I'm not awake enough ta pu' on a diff'ren' accen'," I replied, yawning. "Gimme a minute an' I will be."

"Isn't it awesome?" Amethyst asked, grinning broadly at me.

"It _is_ pretty cool," Steven agreed, walking back into the kitchen. "Now, Emma, do you have anything fancy you could wear?"

"I can shapeshift something," I said, shifting my pajamas into day clothes. "Like that."

"Good," he said, grabbing tablecloths and handing one to Pearl, who put it on the table that I had just finished putting chairs at. I picked up the remaining chairs and set them at the empty table as Steven put the second tablecloth on it.

"When're they gonna get here?" I asked, walking over to lean against the kitchen counter.

"In a few hours," Steven replied. "We're gonna test the recipes first. Amethyst, you got the ingredients?"

"Yeah," she said, putting a grocery bag on the counter and grabbing some potatoes to work with. "Wanna taste-test, Em?"

"Sure," I said, watching as they cooked. Steven chopped vegetables for the pizza bagels, while Amethyst took a hammer to some potatoes to make the fries.

 _Why is she smashing the potatoes? You're supposed to cut them up and fry them,_ I mused, watching as she squirted ketchup on the potato mush and mixed it in. Then, she grabbed the potato/ketchup mixture and shaped it into fries, dropping them in the fryer.

"So you're putting the ketchup _in_ the fries," I said with a smirk. "Good tactics."

"Thanks," Steven said, putting the toppings onto his bagels before putting them in the oven. "Hey, have you heard anything from Ronaldo?"

"I haven't seen him since I fled the scene of your debacle yesterday," I replied simply, looking down at Steven as he made a sign to put outside.

"Hey," Amethyst said, setting a plate of fries on the counter in front of me with a wink. "One order of fries for the lovely lady."

"Thanks," I said, picking up a fry and tasting it. "Oh, this is _good_. Not what I had expected from potato mush and ketchup, but still... Amazing!"

"Good," Steven said, handing the sign to Garnet to put up outside and going to take the pizza bagels out of the oven. "And your bagels, madam."

"Thank you," I said, flattered. I gingerly picked up one of the bagels, blowing on it so it would cool down faster. After a minute, it was cool enough to eat. I bit into it, almost dropping it in surprise when I tasted it. "Is there... _cream cheese_ in this pizza bagel?"

"Yep!" Steven chirped, grinning widely at me. "The best of bagel toppings for the best of pizza bagels!"

"Well, my compliments to the chefs," I said, giving him a thumbs up and winking at Amethyst, who blushed a deep plum.

x x x

"They're here," Steven said, moving to stand by the door. "Everyone ready?"

"Almost," I called from my room, putting down my phone and shifting my clothes into an elegant green evening gown. "Ready." I went and leaned against the counter, shifting a pair of long gloves onto my hands for a bit of flair.

"Welcome to the grand opening of Steven's," Steven said, opening the door for our guests to enter. "Right this way."

"Hmph. Nice ambiance," Peedee said, and his dad removed his cap as a sign of respect.

"It's all right," he said, crossing his hands and moving to the middle chair at the table closest to the door.

"There are not enough tables!" Kofi protested, looking at the two tables.

"There are _just enough_ tables, daddy," Kiki corrected, following her father over to the table nearest the kitchen.

Both families sat down, and Pearl approached the Frymans, dressed as a waiter.

"Hello, gentlemen. May I take your order?" she asked, holding a notepad and pen.

"I'm full... of sadness!" Ronaldo said, starting to sob uncontrollably and slamming his head down onto the table to hide his tears.

"I will have the Fantastic Fries," Mr. Fryman said, and Pearl took down the order before moving to the Pizzas' table.

"I bet they're not as fantastic as ours," Fryman muttered to Peedee, ignoring Ronaldo's crying.

"And for you?" Pearl asked, standing by the other table.

"I will have the Pizza Bagel!" Kofi said, and Pearl wrote down the order and came to the kitchen. "I doubt a pizza bagel can beat pizza that _isn't_ on a bagel."

"Ah, let's see," Steven said, accepting the orders from Pearl. "Wonderful - two of our best dishes!"

"Our _only_ dishes," Pearl said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Amethyst, order up! Fire one fry and one pizza!" Steven said, clapping twice.

"Yes, chef!" Amethyst said, getting to work. I took the trays of water off the counter and walked over to the Frymans' table, where I set down one tray and handed out the glasses, then went over to the Pizzas and handed out water to them.

"Thank you, Emma," Kiki said with a polite smile.

"You're welcome," I said, taking the empty trays and returning to the kitchen, where I leaned against the counter to watch Amethyst cook. "Hey, chef. Lookin' good there."

"Don't distract me," she said, focusing on shaping potato/ketchup mush into fries.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned that I'd upset her. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Nah," she replied, dropping the fries into the fryer. "I could look at you all night in that dress, and I don't want to ruin Steven's plan by doing that."

"You like it?" I asked, looking down at myself. "Steven just said 'fancy', so I figured I'd take that idea and run with it."

"Well, you could wear anything and I'd think you look amazing, but yeah, I like it," Amethyst said, poking at the fries with the strainer-ladle thingy. "Oh, they're ready."

"Pizza bagels are done, too," Steven said, opening the oven and taking out the bagels.

The dishes were put on plates, and Pearl took them out to the customers.

"Here's your order, sir," she said, setting the pizza bagel in front of Kofi.

"Heh, pizza on a bagel, indeed!" Kofi said, looking at his food with disdain.

"And for you, sir," Pearl said, setting the plate of fries in front of Mr. Fryman.

"Uh, can I get some ketchup?" he asked.

"Sorry, no additions or substitutions," Pearl said, coming back to the kitchen.

"Ha! This place is all talk! You can't have fries without ketchup," Fryman said, and I watched with a smirk as he ate a fry and was struck with disbelief. "The ketchup... is _inside the fries?!_ "

At the other table, Kofi gasped, dropping his pizza bagel back onto the plate.

"There's cream cheese in this pizza bagel. It adds a whole other level of flavor!" he said. "And with pizza on a bagel, you can eat pizza any time!"

"It's amazing!" said Fryman.

"It's genius!" said Kofi.

The two men looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They got up and angrily approached Steven.

"Ah, gentlemen, I hope you enjoyed your meal," Steven said. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Steven," Fryman said, cracking his knuckles. I moved forward slightly, ready to stop the men if they attacked Steven. "We didn't want to have to do this, but..." he clasped his hands together.

"Please, shut this place down!" Kofi pleaded.

"What's this?" Steven asked, feigning surprise. "You want me to close my lovely establishment?"

"Steven, we're begging you!" Fryman said, dropping to his knees with clasped hands. Kofi did the same.

"We can't compete with a place like this!"

"You'll drive us out of business!"

"There's already a line!" Kofi cried, pointing to the door. I looked over to the door to find Onion standing on the other side, fork in hand.

"I'll close up shop under _one_ condition," Steven said.

"Anything!" the restaurant owners said in unison.

"Stop this foolish war!" Steven demanded. "Cook for yourselves and the good of the boardwalk! No more cooking out of hate and spite."

The men smiled at each other, finally in peaceful agreement.

"Let's just do what we do best!" Kofi said.

"Agreed!" said Fryman, and the men hugged.

"Yeah!" Peedee, Kiki, and Jenny cheered, coming over to celebrate with their fathers. Ronaldo stayed in his seat, crying into his arms.

"Good job, daddy," Jenny said.

"Do you hear that, Ronaldo?" Fryman asked. "The war's over!"

Ronaldo gave a thumbs-up from the table, still sobbing over... something.

"Glad that's settled," Steven said, turning to look at us in the kitchen. "Y'all help me clean this place up."

"Sorry, we on break," Amethyst said, and Garnet gave two claps. I straightened up and walked over to Ronaldo, concerned for his health.

"What's goin' on, Steakfries?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"Jane broke up with me!" he sobbed into the table. "All because of Steven's first plan to end the war..."

"Sorry 'bout that," I said, patting him on the arm. "Y'know, you're gonna have to stop crying eventually."

"Y-yeah," he said, his sobs starting to subside. Ronaldo looked up, sniffling, and stifled a gasp when he saw me. "H-hey... would you maybe go out with me?"

"Uh..." I said, unsure of how to let him down gently.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Peridot asked, walking into the house. "Why is there a small human out here?"

"I ended the Restaurant War!" Steven replied, looking at Onion, who had followed Peridot into the house. "And that's Onion. He wants food, even though he won't eat it."

"Emma?" Ronaldo asked, looking at me hopefully.

 _Shit..._

X

 **(AN: If the Everything Buffet ruined the economy of the** ** _entire_** **boardwalk, wouldn't that mean that it sold more than just food?**

 **And yeah, Emma can directly manipulate others' emotions. That will be addressed more in-depth in the prequels I'm working on.)**


	31. 28: Big Reveal

28: Big Reveal

X X X X

 _Shit..._

"Emma? Will you go out with me?" Ronaldo pressed, a ray of hope shining from him.

"Uh..." I said, standing up. "I think I should help clean up..."

"But we on break, Em!" Amethyst called from the kitchen, watching as I started picking up the restaurant.

"Hey, Ronaldo, we're gonna get going," Mr. Fryman said, putting his hand on Ronaldo's shoulder as he passed.

"I'll come in a bit," Ronaldo said, waving his father away. "I want to talk to Emma."

"Okay," Fryman said, following the Pizzas and Peedee out the door.

"So, Emma?" Ronaldo asked, and I ignored him in favor of putting the leftover food in an empty donut box and handing it to Onion.

"Here you go, Onion," I said. "It's on the house."

Onion took the box with a polite nod and left, leaving me to my work. I grabbed the tablecloth off one of the tables and folded it quickly yet neatly before doing the same with the other one. Next, I picked up the tables and put them by the Temple door, followed by the chairs.

"Emma?" Ronaldo asked. I continued ignoring him, bringing the furniture back into the main room and arranging it neatly.

"Emma, is there something you need to say?" Steven asked, waving to Lapis as she entered the house behind me.

"Oh, Emerald's telling us something?" she asked, leaning against the wall by the door and looking at me expectantly.

"It's not just me," I said, grabbing Peridot and Amethyst and pulling them to sit on the couch on either side of me.

"Ooh..." Lapis said, actually interested in something for a change.

"Emma, will you please go out with me?" Ronaldo insisted, and I growled, unable to ignore him any longer.

"I _can't!_ " I snapped. "I'm already in a relationship!"

"With who?" Ronaldo asked, and I looked at him in disbelief.

"Amethyst and Peridot," I replied, putting my arms around them defensively.

There was a collective gasp from everyone in the room except Amethyst, Peridot, Garnet, and me.

"All three of you?" Pearl asked, shocked.

"Yeah," I replied, returning her gaze for a moment before looking at the others. Steven was shocked, and slightly excited; Pearl was shocked and confused; Lapis was apathetic; and Ronaldo was confused, curious, and a little bit disgusted.

"Garnet? You don't look surprised," Steven said, looking at Garnet, who was smiling at us. "I mean, I know you probably saw this, but-"

"I found out at the start of their relationship," she said, ruffling his hair affectionately. "It was the night you went to Empire City with Pearl and Greg."

"Oh," Steven said, excitement and happiness overcoming his shock as he ran over to us. He leapt onto my lap and pulled Peridot, Amethyst, and me into a hug. "This is great!"

" _Great?_ " Ronaldo echoed, stalking over to us. "This is _unnatural!_ "

"Oh, come _on,_ " I groaned, gently pushing Steven off my lap and standing up. "You're only just _now_ figuring out that I'm unnatural? I'm a _hybrid_ , Steakfries! I can _read minds_ and _manipulate emotions_. I'm only _one-third_ human! If you can't accept that I'm in a polyamorous relationship, then get out of my life!"

"Wait, you're poly?" Jenny said from the other side of the door, startling me. "Oh, sorry. I forgot my phone on the table in the celebration."

"I'll get it," I said, moving to the counter and grabbing the smartphone that had been left on the Pizzas' table. "And yeah, I am. With Amethyst and Peridot."

"Cool!" she said, taking her phone from my hand. "Me, Buck, and Sour Cream are too."

"Really," I said, intrigued. "That's cool."

"Yeah," Jenny said, leaning against the wall by the stairs. "Most people think we're just really good friends, and we're okay with that, but we've been together for a few years now."

"That's awesome!" Steven said, coming over to hug Jenny.

 _They could be like couple friends, but with trios!_ Steven thought, and I chuckled, reaching down and ruffling his hair.

"What, Emma?" he asked, looking up at me in confusion.

"It's called a triad, Steven," I said, smiling at him.

"Oh! You read my thoughts!" Steven gasped, turning to look up at me.

"You've known I can do that for a year, kid," I said, ruffling his hair again before moving back to the couch and sitting with Peridot and Amethyst. "Besides, I only listen to surface thoughts. I prefer to respect people's mental privacy."

"That's nice of you," Steven said, climbing the stairs and sitting on the edge of his bed platform. "So, tonight was a success."

"No it wasn't!" Ronaldo protested.

"Tch!" I scoffed, glaring at him. "Just because things didn't go your way doesn't mean nothing good happened. The restaurant war is over! We don't have to deal with fried pizza or fry pizza or pizza fries any more! Though I _will_ miss those pizza bits... Those were _good_..."

"Emma!" Steven scolded, looking down on me in disappointment. "Frymen should sell fries and Pizzas should sell pizzas!"

"I _know_ ," I said, "but the pizza bits were _really good!_ I mean, not as good as the pizza bagel or ketchup-fries we served tonight, but still... Give the pizza bits a chance!"

"Ugh," Steven groaned, flopping down onto his bed in lieu of glaring at me.

"I wonder if I can arrange for a pizza-bit-compromise..." I mused, watching as Ronaldo stormed out of the house without saying goodbye.

"I should get going," Jenny said, straightening up and turning to leave. "Bye, guys. Thanks for dinner."

"No problem," I said, standing up and stretching. "I'm gonna go to bed. G'night, everyone."

"Goodnight, Emma."

X

 **END OF THE FIRST ARC**

X

 **(AN: Final chapter of the first arc! I know it's a short one, but adding it on to the previous chapter would've been... Well, I wanted to separate it. Besides, last chapter, chapter 27, was the longest so far, at over 3,000 words!**

 **Poly Cool Kids forever, yo. And ignorant Ronaldo. You'd think that he'd be more aware of that kind of stuff, what with being so focused on the internet, but he's more of a conspiracy guy than anything.**

 **Thanks for reading!)**


	32. 29: Island Vacation

**(AN: Time for the second arc! This is a pretty long chapter, but I couldn't think of a way to split it up into sections with good lengths, so it's staying long.)**

X

29: Island Vacation

x x x x

"Hey, Em, can we talk to you about something?" Amethyst asked the next morning, shaking me awake.

"Er, yeah, I guess so," I replied, accent thick with sleep. "Go ahead."

"After the events of the past few months, we were thinking that you could use a... what's the word again, Amethyst?" Peridot started, stopping when she didn't know how to continue.

"Vacation," Amethyst said, and I narrowed my eyes at them. "Not that we don't want you here, Em, it's just that everything's been really hectic lately, what with the Cluster and the Rubies-"

"-the threat of Jasper and Yellow Diamond-"

"-the 'restaurant war'-"

"-and the forced reveal of our relationship," Peridot said, continuing, "and as you're part-human, the mental strain of your powers could cause undue stress. We thought that some time away from everything could help you."

"You've got a point... Things _have_ been stressful lately," I said, nodding. A vacation _did_ sound appealing. "Where would I go, though? Most vacation spots are pretty crowded with humans."

"Steven said that Mask Island would be a nice place for a vacation," Amethyst replied, "and the Watermelon Stevens are there, so you wouldn't be _completely_ alone."

"Well, he did say that they have a nice civilization built out there," I said, sitting up and stretching before I got out of bed. "Mask Island it is. I think that a week sounds like a good amount of time for a vacation."

"Perfect!" Peridot said, holding out a packed backpack. "We packed enough supplies to last you a month, so you should have more than enough."

"There's a tent, a sleeping bag, some clothes, food, and human stuff in there," Amethyst explained as I took the backpack. "Don't ask how we got it all in there. Peridot did that part."

"Cool," I said, shifting my pajamas into regular clothes and leaving my room. "I'll get going, then. See you guys next week."

"See ya," Amethyst said, pulling me into a hug.

"Good bye," Peridot said, joining our hug briefly.

Once Amethyst released me, I stepped up onto the Warp Pad and warped out, going to Mask Island.

When I arrived at Mask Island, I was found by a Watermelon Steven, who took my hand and pulled me to the watermelon village.

"Rawr! Rah ra-ma-rah!" the melon cried, waving to the others.

"Rah!" said a few other melons, coming over to greet me.

"Hey, guys," I said, hoping they understood me. "I'm just visiting for a little while."

The Watermelon Stevens talked amongst themselves, then nodded at me. My guide took me out of the village, bringing me to an empty clearing in the forest.

"Mah rah mah," it said, gesturing to the ground.

"You think I should camp here?" I asked, looking down at the sentient fruit, which looked back up at me and nodded. "Thanks, Melon Steven."

"Rah ma-rah," it said, smiling at me before releasing my hand and walking back into the forest.

After the melon left, I took off my backpack and opened it, dumping out a tent and sleeping bag.

"How do you set up a tent, anyway?" I mused, taking the tent out of its bag and attempting to figure it out, since there weren't instructions included.

x x x

Six days into my vacation, I was exploring the beach when I felt the ground shake.

"Uuuuugh," a familiar voice groaned from behind me.

I turned around, seeing a mountain of white hair. It stirred, revealing orange and red striped skin.

"Jasper?" I said, approaching her. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" she gasped, turning around and looking at me. " _You!_ Filthy double-crosser!"

"I think it's _dirty_ double-crosser," I corrected, causing Jasper to snarl and summon her helmet.

" _I don't CARE!_ " she bellowed, rushing at me.

 _Oh_ _ **shit!**_

Stepping to the side, I summoned my bow and pulling out an arrow. My first shot missed, but the second arrow embedded itself in Jasper's arm. I paused momentarily, waiting for her to poof, and she took advantage of my distraction by pulling the arrow  
out of her arm and stabbing me in the stomach with it.

" _Aaaaaugh!_ "

x x

With a scream of pain, Emma's body exploded into a cloud of vapor, leaving her gemstones behind. Jasper caught the stones, glancing at them briefly before going to crush them in her large hand.

"Wha-?" she gasped, doing a double-take and inspecting the gems. "Emerald..."

The gemstones sat in her hand, their deep green contrasting with the red of her skin. One was in the shape of a diamond, and the other rectangular. Jasper disregarded the first, shoving it in a hidden pocket of her uniform. The rectangular gem she recognized,  
having seen it many times during the war for Earth.

"Emerald, why did you betray me?" Jasper asked, staring down at the stone in sad confusion. "Was it because the enemy had an emerald of their own?"

Overhead, the sky darkened and thunder rumbled through the atmosphere. Jasper looked up, the storm causing concern enough that she decided to seek shelter.

Crashing through the forest led Jasper to a clearing where a rudimentary shelter stood. She squeezed herself through the opening and found a makeshift bed, which she set both gemstones on. Lying next to them, Jasper considered the rectangular stone, thinking  
back to when she had met its owner.

x x

 _"General Jasper," said a citrine, bowing to Jasper briefly before continuing, "a spy has been sent to join our forces."_

 _"Ugh, they think we need a_ _ **spy?**_ _" Jasper scoffed. "Why would we resort to such dirty tactics?"_

 _"Yellow Diamond has been reviewing battle reports, and their contents haven't pleased her," a new gem said, stepping out from behind the citrine. "I was sent to improve the reports."_

 _"Who are_ _ **you?**_ _" Jasper snarled, looking the new gem up and down. Her dark green catsuit flattered her curvy form, and black fingerless gloves covered most of her forearms. A yellow diamond adorned her chest, as expected from a gem under Yellow Diamond. She was easily under five feet tall, and her green hair was cut to chin-length, covering her left eye._

 _"Emerald, Facet 3G8R Cut 9HB," came the reply._

 _"Gemstone location and weapon?" Jasper pressed, raising a perfect eyebrow at her._

 _"Back of the neck, daggers," the emerald said, reaching back and pulling a short, crystalline blade from her gemstone, showing it to Jasper before dismissing it into light. "I await your orders, General."_

 _"Thank you."_

x x

"Why would such a good soldier shame herself by fusing?" Jasper asked, stroking the stone. "And what did you become, Emerald?"

When no reply came, though it wasn't expected, Jasper rolled onto her back and stared at the roof of the shelter. After a while, she drifted off into sleep.

x x

 _"General?" Emerald said, stepping into the makeshift office and closing the door behind herself. "I'm here to present my report."_

 _"Go ahead," Jasper said with a wave of her large hand._

 _"The enemy, who call themselves the Crystal Gems, plan to use fusion in battle," Emerald said, "but not the usual fusion. The Rose Quartz has been..._ _ **inspired**_ _, by the cross-fusion of Blue Diamond's traitors. They have been practicing, and their most successful fusions are between Rose Quartz and her emerald escort, calling itself Candy Jade, as well as Rose Quartz and the renegade pearl, calling itself Rainbow Quartz. The traitorous fusion and the renegade pearl have fused, though that one, called Sardonyx, is not as promising."_

 _"They're using cross-fusion?!" Jasper roared, causing Emerald to shrink back in fear. "Well, we'll just use it too!"_

 _"Uh, not to criticize, General, but the Diamonds highly disapprove of cross-fusion, and would likely punish you for suggesting the tactic," Emerald said, instinctively forming the diamond salute as she spoke._

 _"They would only find out if we were successful," Jasper smirked, standing up and approaching the spy. "Fuse with me, Emerald."_

 _"G-General Jasper," Emerald sputtered, "cross-fusions often have unexpected powers, and if we don't assess the risks-"_

 _"If there's no risk, there won't be a reward," Jasper said, her smirk growing into a menacing toothy grin as she held out her hand to the smaller Gem. "Just say_ _ **yes**_ _."_

 _"Oh, all right," Emerald sighed, accepting Jasper's hand and getting pulled into a tango. They danced for almost a minute, synchronizing their minds and bodies before melting together into a fusion._

x x

After a week of standing guard over the gems, as well as collecting corrupted gems to create an army, Jasper was desperate.

"Emerald never took this long to regenerate," she said, holding the rectangular stone in her hand and watching it intently.

As she watched, the stone started to glow faintly, and she saw from the corner of her eye that the other stone was also glowing. Neither took form, though, even after at least ten minutes of glowing.

 _Maybe they have to be together,_ Jasper thought, picking up the diamond-shaped emerald and holding the gemstones together.

When the stones came in contact, they glowed brightly, lifting from Jasper's hands to take form. They struggled for a moment to separate, then gave in, their light coalescing into a single body.

x x

I came back to awareness in pain, feeling as if I'd taken a knife to the gut. Thinking back, I remembered Jasper stabbing me with my own arrow during a fight.

 _So I get to choose my new form,_ I thought, noticing that there were options presented to me. _Odd, all of them seem to have either an exposed midsection or some sort of marking there._

Looking over the options, I decided on keeping my hair long and curly, and went with what looked most comfortable.

Once I made my decision, I took form in a flash of bright light, coming to stand before Jasper.

"Oh, not _you_ again," I grumbled, taking out my bow and training an arrow on her chest. To my surprise, she held up her hands in surrender.

"I won't hurt you, Emerald," Jasper said, and I could feel that she was being completely honest. "I just want to talk."

With a sigh of irritation, I dismissed my bow and sat down in front of her, waiting for her to begin.

"So?" I asked after a minute of silence. "You want to talk, so talk."

"I..." she started, trailing off and taking a deep breath before looking me directly in the eye as she spoke. "What are you, Emerald? What have you become?"

"I'm part-human," I replied. "One-third human, two-thirds Gem. My mother, a fusion by the name of Emerald, gave up her physical form to create me."

"Why, though?"

"I honestly don't know," I said with a sigh. "I can't ask her, and she wasn't with the Crystal Gems at the time, so they can't tell me... Why do you want to know?"

"I knew Emerald - well, one part of the fusion Emerald, who was also called Emerald," Jasper explained. "She came to Earth during the war as a spy for my forces. Her telepathy made her an ideal spy, more than making up for her size and partial blindness.  
Emerald was the first to inform me that the Crystal Gems were planning to utilize cross-fusion in combat."

"Partial blindness?" I asked, confused. The Crystal Gems hadn't mentioned anything about my mother being blind.

"All Emeralds are blind in one eye, though it isn't exactly known why," Jasper replied. "When two fuse, they have full vision, as the two working eyes overshadow the two blind eyes. Often, Emeralds have hair covering the nonfunctioning eye, as it looks...  
Unsettling..."

She cleared her throat, continuing, "Anyway, Emerald was a valuable asset, but over time, she became _more_ than that. It started when we fused, after she informed me that the Crystal Gems were cross-fusing. I never understood why she betrayed me  
for the Crystal Gems, even when I saw her fused with their Emerald."

"The Crystal Gems never told me that one of my mother's components originally fought on Homeworld's side," I said, looking at my hands as I fiddled with a leaf I had picked up off the ground.

 _They probably didn't want you to think less of her,_ Jasper thought, likely not knowing that I had inherited my mother's telepathy. I looked back up at her, noticing that she wasn't wearing eyeliner like she had been the last time I had seen her.

"Hey, uh, I think your eyeliner got washed off," I said, gesturing to her face.

"Oh, that probably happened when Malachite unfused," Jasper said, summoning a tube of eyeliner from her gem and asking, "Do you have a mirror?"

"No, sorry," I replied, then held out my hand. "I could do it for you - I remember what it looked like before."

"Thanks," Jasper said, handing me the makeup and scooting closer to me.

I stood up on my knees and positioned myself directly in front of her. Opening the tube revealed a fine-tip brush pen, and I leaned forward, placing a hand gently on Jasper's shoulder to steady myself.

"Close your eyes," I said, and she obeyed, rolling her eyes beneath her lids. Carefully, I started to apply the eyeliner, drawing on the small amount of makeup experience I had, as well as the slightly larger amount of knowledge.

 _You'd better not mess this up,_ Jasper thought, and I pushed all extraneous thought aside as I concentrated.

 _It's mostly in the wrist, Emma,_ I told myself, _like drawing a curved line. But on a vertical, kinda squishy canvas. With a brush. Steady, now..._

Once I got one eye perfect, I moved to the other, biting my lip in concentration.

 _Don't make it conspicuously asymmetrical,_ I thought, _because that would be bad. Jasper would likely punch you in the face for it._

"Hmmm," I hummed softly, furrowing my brow as I gave a short flick of my wrist to make the wing.

 _From what I can tell, she isn't doing too bad,_ Jasper mused, and I grinned, finishing the wing and moving back.

"Done," I said, and Jasper opened her eyes, watching me carefully as I closed the tube of eyeliner and held it out for her to take back. "Here."

"Thanks, again," Jasper said, taking the black cylinder and putting it back in her gemstone. "You look tired, Emerald. Maybe you should go to bed."

"I guess I am a _bit_ tired," I agreed, yawning and standing up. "What're you gonna do?"

"Oh, nothing much," Jasper said, and I nodded, turning around and walking into the tent.

x x

 _"Where's Emerald?" Peridot asked, warping into the beach house and approaching Amethyst, who had perked up at her arrival only to slump back down when she saw that it was just Peridot._

 _"I dunno," Amethyst replied, flopping onto her back and sighing. "I asked Garnet earlier, but she can't see her for some reason."_

 _"Do you want to go look for her?" Peridot asked, sitting down next to Amethyst on the couch. "She's probably still on the island."_

 _"Eh, Em can take care of herself," Amethyst said, looking up at the ceiling, then sitting back up when Pearl and Garnet stepped out of the Temple and got onto the Warp Pad. "Where ya going, guys?"_

 _"We're going to look for Jasper," Garnet replied._

 _"What?!" Connie asked, having just entered the house. "But Pearl, we're supposed to train today!"_

 _"Oh! Oh, I'm_ _ **so**_ _sorry, Connie!" Pearl gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "It's just... I completely forgot, I'm sorry. Amethyst, stay back with Steven and Connie, okay?"_

 _"Sure, dude," Amethyst said, giving Pearl a thumbs-up as she warped away with Garnet._

 _"I'll wait at the barn," Peridot said, getting up and going to warp back to the barn. "See you later."_

 _"See ya, P-dot."_

x x

The next morning, I woke up to the sun shining through the roof of the tent, showing that it was almost noon.

"Jasper?" I called, getting out of my sleeping bag and exiting the tent to find myself alone. "Jasper!"

"Ma-rah rah mah mah rah," a Watermelon Steven said, looking up at me from where it sat on a log.

"You _do_ realize that I can't understand you," I said, raising an eyebrow at the melon.

"Mrrmrrmh," it grumbled, standing up and grabbing a stick, which it used to draw in the mud. From the drawings, I was able to decipher what had happened.

"Jasper left you to guard me... because she left... into the ocean... with two hexagons," I said slowly, and the sentient melon nodded along until the last part, where it shook its head. "Those are clearly hexagons, melon dude."

"Mrh mah rah!" it protested, glaring up at me before drawing more.

"Hexagons... with hexagons inside..." I said, studying the drawings for a moment before catching on. "Wait, she had _gems?_ "

"Grah!" the melon said, smiling.

"But the only non-corrupted Gems on Earth are the Crystal Gems and Jasper," I said, sitting on the log and looking at the drawings. "So they're corrupt gems. Why would Jasper have _corrupt gems?_ "

"Ra-ma-rah," the Watermelon Steven said, poking my leg. "Mah!"

"More drawings?" I asked, and it nodded. I looked at the new drawings, which confused me. "Are those... lions?"

"Mrh!" the melon replied, adding to the drawings.

"Those are the corrupt gems?" I asked. The watermelon nodded, and I frowned, confused. "But why does Jasper even _have_ them?"

"Rh-muh-grh," it said with a shrug.

"Emerald!" Jasper called through the forest, and the Watermelon Steven snapped to attention, focusing on the direction she was coming from. "Emerald, are you awake?"

"Yeah," I called back as she entered the clearing. I stood up, crossing my arms and giving her a stern look as she approached me. "Where did you _go?_ And with corrupt gems, no less?"

"How do you know about -" Jasper started, then looked down at the sentient melon, who looked guilty. " _You_ told her, didn't you?"

"Grah. Rah mrh-grh," it replied, looking up at her in shame.

"Tch," Jasper scoffed, rolling her eyes. "It's fine. I'm not gonna crush you."

"Rah-grh," the melon said, rushing forward and hugging Jasper's leg before scurrying off through the forest to the melon village.

"Where did you go?" I pressed, fixing my gaze back on Jasper.

"Rose fused with a _human!_ " she said, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Where. Did. You. _Go?_ " I asked again, emphasizing each word as I walked toward her.

"I went to the Crystal Gems' base," Jasper replied, crossing her arms and looking me in the eye. "Rose fused with a human."

"You mean Steven?" I offered, and Jasper shook her head.

"No, I mean Rose Quartz," she said, and I rolled my eyes.

"You mean _Steven,_ " I said, "because Rose Quartz gave up her physical form to create him - a half-human - much like my mother did to create me."

"But she- he fused with a human," Jasper insisted, and I smirked.

"He can do that," I confirmed with a nod, then asked, "Why did you go to the Crystal Gem base?"

"To show that I'm building an army," she replied with a sinister grin. "Do you want to see my recruits?"

Her offer set off a lightbulb in my head, and I gave an evil grin and said, "Yeah."

Jasper held out her hand, where two hexagonal gems sat.

"Can I see them?" I asked, giving a mental sigh of relief when she nodded affirmatively. I took them from her hand, studying them for a few moments before quickly bubbling them and sending them to the Temple.

"What did you do with them?" Jasper gasped, anger and fear creeping into her tone. "Where are they?"

"They're safe, don't worry," I replied. "Nothing will hurt them."

"Good."

x x

 _"Why do you keep calling me here, General?" Emerald asked, closing the door to Jasper's "office" behind her. "I haven't gotten any information from the Crystal Gems in the past few days."_

 _"Call me Jasper," Jasper said, avoiding the question. She allowed her intimidating mask to fall, giving the spy a genuine smile._

 _"But you're my superior," Emerald protested, raising her eyebrow at Jasper, who had stood and moved to the door behind her desk, which led to her private quarters._

 _"You only need to address me as a superior when there are others around," Jasper said, opening the door and gesturing for Emerald to enter. "Come. Let's talk."_

 _"I already told you, I don't have any information on the Crystal Gems' activities," Emerald said, but she went through the door anyway._

 _Jasper followed Emerald into the room, closing and locking the door behind herself._

 _"We don't need to talk about_ _ **them**_ _," she said, sitting in one of the chairs. "I want to know about_ _ **you.**_ _"_

 _"I'm not that interesting, General," Emerald said, sitting down in the other chair. "I'm just an Emerald, a spy. Yellow Diamond sent me to serve in the war."_

 _"I know that already. But there has to be_ _ **more**_ _to you than that."_

 _x x x_

 _"Gen- Jasper," Emerald said, reaching up to intercept Jasper's hand before it could brush aside her hair. "I would advise you not to do that. The blind eye of an Emerald is not a pleasant thing to see."_

 _"I've seen hundreds of battles, shattered dozens of Gems," Jasper said, leaning closer to the other Gem. "I think I can handle an eye."_

 _"Suit yourself," Emerald muttered, lowering her hand._

 _Jasper gently moved the hair covering Emerald's eye, tucking it behind her ear before looking at her._

 _"Oh," Jasper gasped. Emerald went to fix her hair, but Jasper stopped her, saying, "You're beautiful."_

 _"But... my eye," Emerald said, uncertain. "You aren't afraid?"_

 _"No," Jasper replied, leaning forward..._

x x

"Isn't it beautiful?" I asked, gesturing to where the sun peeked over the horizon. "I don't usually get to watch the sunset, but it's nice when I do."

"The earth does have its charm," Jasper agreed. "Sometimes, during the war, I would watch the sunset with Emerald."

"That doesn't seem like a wartime activity," I said, looking up at Jasper, who returned my gaze with a soft smile.

"It didn't have to be," she said. "It was a way to escape from it all, to pretend that we weren't in the middle of a war. We could be together, without the stress of spying on the Crystal Gems or commanding an army."

"So... It sounds like the two of you got along pretty well," I said, turning back to the horizon.

"Yeah," Jasper said, leaning back on her hands and looking at the picturesque sunset. "I loved her, and I like to think that she loved me too."

"Did you tell her how you felt about her?" I asked.

"I didn't think I needed to, since she could hear it in my thoughts," Jasper replied, giving a sad sigh. "But then she betrayed me for the Crystal Gems, and I realized that she probably didn't know."

"Sometimes it's better to say it out loud," I said. "I needed to hear it fr- when it happened."

"You're in a relationship, then?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm with two of the other Crystal Gems."

"Oh," Jasper said. "You're all right, though."

"The Crystal Gems aren't bad," I said. "We protect the Earth, and everything on it. Including you, technically."

"The Crystal Gems fight me every time they see me," Jasper said, and I sighed.

"The last time they saw you, you came to fight them," I pointed out, and she hummed thoughtfully. "Before that, Malachite posed a threat to the Earth, and in the hand-ship, you were trying to take us to Homeworld."

"Why do you protect the Earth, anyway?" Jasper asked. "It would have made a good colony."

"Rose Quartz saw beauty in the life on Earth," I replied. "The plants, the animals, the humans... They all have beauty, and to her, they were all worth protecting."

"This place _is_ pretty great," Jasper said, adding, "and the sunset is beautiful."

"See?" I said with a smile. "You're starting to get it."

"I don't like the idea of betraying Yellow Diamond, though," Jasper said, and I could feel her getting nervous. "She's so powerful, and traitors get shattered."

 _Yellow Diamond hasn't come to get Peridot,_ I thought, but didn't say anything. Jasper didn't speak either, and we sat in companionable silence as the sun set and the sky darkened.

"Jasper," I said, a short while after the first stars came out. "The Crystal Gems... we can protect you. And if you don't like the idea of others protecting you, you can help protect yourself."

"But I'll have to put a star on my uniform, won't I?" Jasper asked. "That's your symbol, after all."

"You don't have to wear a star if you don't want to," I replied, adding, "not all of us do."

"If I go to the Crystal Gems' base, they'll attack me," Jasper said, "and you're only one Gem. You can't easily fight off four others."

"I won't need to fight," I said. "I inherited my mother's powers of empathy and telepathy. I can calm them down enough that they won't fight."

"You can hear my thoughts?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah," I said, looking for various constellations among the stars. When I got to one of the Dippers, I saw a shooting star flash across the sky. "So, will you come with me?"

"Yes," Jasper said, standing up. She offered a hand to me, and I took it, allowing her to help me up. "We'll go tomorrow. You need to sleep."

"Yeah, I do."

x x

 _"General Jasper!" Emerald cried, rushing into Jasper's office and slamming the door behind her in her rush. "Jasper! I have important information!"_

 _"Yes, Emerald?" Jasper asked, sitting up straight and looking her in the eye. "What is it?"_

 _"The Crystal Gems' Bismuth has plans to start shattering our forces," Emerald replied, and Jasper clenched her jaw when she saw that Emerald was almost in tears. "She is creating a weapon designed_ _ **specifically**_ _to target the gemstone, shattering it on impact! While the Gem is conscious!"_

 _"By the Diamonds," Jasper breathed, clenching her fist. "Anyone with a conscience would wait until after the physical form is destroyed to destroy the gemstone."_

 _"I_ _ **know!**_ _" Emerald cried, tears starting to cascade down her cheeks._

 _"Oh, Emerald," Jasper sighed, standing up and pulling Emerald into her arms. "I know for a_ _ **fact**_ _that Rose Quartz would_ _ **never**_ _allow that."_

 _"But the Bismuth is in the process of crafting the weapon!" Emerald gasped, burying her face in Jasper's chest to hide her tears._

 _Cursing to herself about the war, Jasper picked Emerald up off the floor and carried her into her quarters, sitting down on the couch and doing her best to comfort the Gem._

X

 **(AN: Yes, I took Emma out of a good portion of the episodes from last summer, but it was necessary for this to work. The end of this chapter coincides with the end of** ** _Bismuth_** **, thus the mention of the Breaking Point.**

 **In EU "canon", shattering a Gem when they're not poofed is seen as inhumane.**

 **The Watermelon Stevens sort of have their own language, which I had a bit of difficulty writing, due to the limited number of sounds that the melons made in** ** _Super Watermelon Island_** **, but I managed. "Ra-ma-rah" is "Emerald", but that's all I'm giving you.)**


	33. 30: Strawberry Punch

**(AN: Second - and last - chapter of this arc! I promise the next arc will be longer, but this chapter itself is pretty long, since I couldn't figure out a good separation point once again. Not as long as last chapter, but still pretty long, especially compared to other chapters, most of which aren't over 2,000 words. Chapter 27, however, was over 3,000 words, and last chapter was over 4,500!**

 **Anyway, enough about word counts. On with the story!)**

X

30: Strawberry Punch

x x x x

"Ready to go?" Jasper asked, watching as I shoved the tent into my backpack.

"Just a sec," I replied, giving one last shove before giving up and closing the zipper as far as it would go with the tent hanging out. "Done."

"Good," Jasper said, taking the backpack and starting toward the ocean. "I know a good route through the water."

"Jasper, no," I said, grabbing her arm and tugging her in the direction of the Warp Pad. "There's a warp on the island; it'll be faster this way."

"That would've been good to know earlier," she said, following me through the forest. "I wouldn't have had to walk through the ocean..."

We walked in silence for a short while, during which I tried to figure out how I was going to persuade the Crystal Gems to accept Jasper into their ranks as an ally.

 _It won't be easy,_ I told myself. _I'll need to find and address all their issues without them knowing I've dug in their minds. The emotional manipulation will also be difficult, as I'll have at least four Gems to work with..._

"What're you thinking about?" Jasper asked, breaking a branch that was in her way.

"How to get the Crystal Gems not to fight you," I replied. "I'll need to dig into their minds, and I don't like that idea. It's a breach of privacy."

"But you're an Emerald," Jasper said, and I rolled my eyes, giving an exasperated sigh. "I mean, I know you're not a full Gem, but Emeralds are made for the express purpose of digging into the minds and manipulating the emotions of other Gems."

"I _know,_ " I said, "but I still like to respect others' privacy. It's a personal choice."

"Okay," Jasper said, dropping the subject.

 _Sooner or later, you'll_ ** _have_** _to do it,_ she thought. _All of us have to abandon ourselves at some point._

Concerned, I snuck a glance at her, but her hair blocked her face from my view.

 _What does she mean?_ I asked myself, but got no answer.

"Here's the Warp Pad," Jasper said after a few minutes. "Do the Crystal Gems have a warp in their base?"

"Yeah," I said, standing on the Warp Pad and waiting for Jasper to get on as well. "That's where we're going."

"We're going _directly into_ their base?" Jasper asked as the warp activated. "That doesn't sound like a good strategy."

"Hush, Jasper," I said, closing my eyes and pulling a feeling of calm from deep within myself. "I need to focus on projecting emotion."

"Hmm," Jasper hummed, falling silent.

The warp dimension flew by, and within a minute, the stream started to slow as we neared the Temple. I gathered my calm, pushing it out into the room when I felt my feet hit the solid crystal of the Temple warp.

"Emerald! You're ba- _Jasper?!_ " Pearl said from the kitchen, her voice cracking into a squawk when she saw Jasper behind me. "You have the _nerve_ to come into _our_ Temple, through _our_ warp..."

"Pearl, calm down," I said softly, my voice carrying due to the acoustics of the room. "Where are Garnet, Amethyst, and Steven?"

"Amethyst and Peridot are in your room, Steven is outside, and Garnet is in the Temple," Pearl replied. "I'm assuming you want them here?"

"Yes," I said. "Could you get them?"

"I'm here," Garnet said as soon as I finished, stepping out of the Temple and walking to the couch, where she sat down calmly. "Steven is coming in now. He heard you, Pearl."

"Oh," Pearl said, a blue flush creeping up her face as she entered my room to retrieve Amethyst and Peridot.

"Hey, Garnet," Steven said, coming through the front door and hopping up on the couch next to Garnet. "What was Pearl yelling about?"

"You'll find out in a moment," Garnet answered cryptically, smiling down at him.

"So, what's the big deal, P?" Amethyst asked, following Pearl out of my room and going to sit on the couch with Peridot trailing behind. "Why do we need to be out here?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Pearl said, joining everyone on the couch, then turning to look at me. "We're ready."

"Good," I said, stepping off the Warp Pad and drawing on the calm in the room to enhance my projection. "Everyone, I have a new ally, who wishes to join us in defense of the Earth."

"Hey," Jasper said, and she gave a casual wave as she came to stand next to me in front of the couch. "I'm sorry about... well, about pretty much all the stuff I did."

" _Jasper?!_ " Peridot screeched, jumping to hide herself behind Amethyst, who bristled with fury.

 _Time to dig,_ I sighed, continuing to project an aura of calm as I delved into Amethyst's mind, sifting through recent events in order to find what was bothering her. _Ohh, feelings of inadequacy. That's not good._

 _She's upset about my calling her a defect, isn't she, Emerald?_ Jasper thought, starting to feel guilty. _I was just upset about her defeating my soldier._

"Jasper, I believe that you have some apologies to make," I said, looking up at her and giving a subtle nod.

"I do," Jasper said, sitting down on the floor before continuing. "Amethyst, I'm sorry that I called you defective and worthless. You may be smaller than most Quartzes, but you're still a good fighter, and Rose Quartz definitely would have said that you're  
perfect just how you are."

"Uh, thanks, I guess," Amethyst said. "But I still want a rematch."

"Later," Jasper said. "Pearl. I apologize for calling you defective, and for destroying your physical form. I also apologize for the many times I attempted to destroy your gem during the war. I didn't understand how you could reject your purpose, but  
now, I think I'm starting to."

"That's a start," Pearl said with a curt nod. "It's good that you're trying."

"Thank you. Now, Garnet. I'm sorry that I insulted your status as a fusion, and that I separated you as forcefully as I did. I was so clouded with rage that I forgot how strong love is, and how good it feels to be close with the one you love. I remember  
now, and because of that, I'm sorry."

Garnet didn't say anything, instead giving Jasper a thumbs-up to show that she accepted the apology.

"Steven," Jasper said, looking him in the eye. "I'm sorry that I- Diamonds, there are too many things to even _list_ what I did! I'm sorry for all of it. I truly respected Rose Quartz, and even though I don't understand why she created you, I understand  
why she chose to defend the Earth."

 _Even if she was a bit brash at some times..._ Jasper continued in her head, and I turned to her, confused.

"What do you mean, 'she was a bit brash at some times'?" I asked, ignoring Pearl's gasp from the couch. "What happened?"

"Rose Quartz' final act during the rebellion," Jasper started, taking a breath before continuing, "was shattering Pink Diamond. _That's_ why I sought revenge in the first place. Rose Quartz destroyed her Diamond, _my_ Diamond."

"I thought Rose didn't touch gemstones," I said, confused by the conflicting accounts.

"Pink Diamond was going to shatter Rose!" Pearl protested, drawing all attention to herself. "Rose acted in self-defense! She deeply regretted her actions afterward, even attempting to heal Pink Diamond's gemstone, though it didn't work. Shattered gemstones  
can't be healed."

"So you have the shards somewhere in the Temple, then?" I asked, gesturing to the Temple door.

"No," Pearl answered, a small frown on her face. "We sent them back to Homeworld, and the remaining Diamonds saw it as a point of no return. That was when they decided to end the war."

"Wait..." Steven said, looking at Jasper curiously. "I thought you were under Yellow Diamond?"

"I was," Jasper said. "When Pink Diamond was shattered, all Gems in her service were reassigned to the other Diamonds, depending on their rank and purpose. As a soldier, I was assigned to Yellow Diamond."

"How about we talk about... more recent events...?" Peridot asked, moving back out from behind Amethyst.

"Sure," I said, sitting down on the floor beside Jasper. "What do you want to discuss?"

"When did you join the Crystal Gems, Peridot?" Jasper asked. "You were fanatically loyal to Yellow Diamond, if I remember correctly."

"Four months ago, shortly before the Cluster emerged, I contacted Yellow Diamond in an attempt to persuade her to terminate the Cluster, since Earth could provide valuable resources to the Gempire," Peridot replied. "Yellow Diamond refused, ordering me  
to let the Earth die. I said I wouldn't, and I... I called her a clod."

"You called _Yellow Diamond_ a _clod?_ " Jasper asked, a mix of horror and admiration on her face. "That's... that's crazy!"

"I know," Peridot agreed. "Then, about a week later, a squad of Rubies came to our temporary base, and we thought they were looking for me - but they were looking for _you!_ "

"Yellow Diamond sent a squad of Rubies to retrieve me..." Jasper muttered, her horror growing. "What happened to them? Where did they go?"

"I told them you were on Neptune," Steven said, a broad grin on his face. "They believed me, and they left!"

"Rubies may be stupid, and relatively weak, but they're extremely persistent," Jasper said, a frown on her face. "If they return to Homeworld without me, Yellow Diamond will send tougher, smarter scouts to get me."

"We'll protect you," Garnet said, standing up and moving to reenter the Temple. "You can stay in the Temple, if you wish... Just stay out of my room."

"Uh, sure. Thanks," Jasper said, standing and following Garnet to the Temple door. "See you later, Emerald."

"See ya, Jasper," I said, getting up and sitting on the couch next to Amethyst and Peridot. "So, did you miss me?"

"Of _course_ we did, Em," Amethyst replied, putting her arm around me and leaning into my side. Peridot moved to sit on my other side and did the same. "You were gone for a _month_. Everyone was worried about you."

"Steven attempted to contact you via your cellular device, but it didn't go through," Peridot said. "Did you not use the portable energy source I packed with your supplies?"

"I did," I said, "but near the end of the first week, Jasper showed up, and I got poofed in a fight. Luckily, she didn't destroy my gemstones... but I couldn't find my phone after I regenerated."

"Maybe it went into your gem," Amethyst said, reaching up and tapping the gem on my chest. "Sometimes that happens."

"How do I retrieve it, if it did go into my gems?" I asked, looking down at her. "I've never summoned anything out of my gems except my bow and arrows."

"You have to concentrate on the object you wish to summon," Pearl answered from the kitchen, where she was putting away the dishes. "You can also concentrate on removing all foreign objects from your gemstone, which will empty out the storage space."

"Thanks, Pearl," I said, moving my hands to my gems to catch any objects that might come out and starting to concentrate on summoning them. After a minute or so of concentration, I was holding something in each hand, and I found that I had retrieved my  
phone, as well as a watch that I hadn't seen in a long time.

"What's _that?_ " Peridot asked, poking the watch. "Why was there a timekeeping device in your gemstone?"

"I was wearing it before I met the Crystal Gems," I replied, sliding the watch onto my left wrist. "I regenerated without it, but I didn't really think about it, since there were so many odd things going on around me."

x x x

"Gems!" Garnet called, her voice echoing through the house and Temple. "To the sitting room!"

"To the sitting room?" I muttered to myself, confused as to why that was our chosen gathering place. I looked up from my phone, watching as the others came to the couch from their various activities.

"What is it, Garnet?" Pearl asked once we were all sitting on the couch. "Is everything all right?"

"I foresee something bad happening at the barn," Garnet replied. "I can't tell what it is at the moment, but it isn't good."

"You don't know _what_ it is, but you _do_ know _where_ it's going to happen?" I asked, once again confused as to how her future vision worked. "That doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

"It doesn't have to," Pearl said, standing up and starting over to the Warp Pad. "Let's go to the barn."

 _This "future vision" thing seems really inconsistent,_ I thought, getting up and following the others to the warp.

"How long do we have until... the thing... happens?" I asked, looking over at Garnet as we flew through the Warp Dimension. "That is, if you know that..."

"Not sure," she replied, adjusting her shades.

Seconds later, we arrived at the barn to find that Lapis and Peridot had made some... renovations. The back of a pickup truck stuck out of the front wall above the door, with an umbrella-shaded TV on the bed. A tent with the Canadian flag flying above  
it sat next to the barn; a water tower stuck out the other side with pipes connecting it to a pond with a pool ladder.

" _Hiii guys!_ " Peridot yelled from the truck bed, where she was watching TV with Lapis. " _Like what we did with the place?_ "

"Hey," Lapis called, looking away from the TV momentarily to acknowledge us, then doing a double-take. "Wait wha- _Jasper?!_ "

"Hey Lapis," Jasper called back, giving a casual wave. Lapis glared down at us, standing up and flying to land in front of Jasper.

" _Why_ are you _here?_ " Lapis snapped. "I'm _not_ going to fuse with you!"

"I don't want to fuse any more," Jasper said. "I'm good enough on my own. I know that now."

"You're _lying,_ " Lapis snarled, taking a step toward Jasper. "You _begged_ me to fuse with you, even though... even after the _torture_ of being Malachite!"

"I was wrong then!" Jasper said, holding up her hands in surrender. "I shouldn't have done that, _any_ of it! I'm _sorry!_ "

" _I don't believe you!_ " Lapis roared, lunging to attack Jasper. Peridot, who had just gotten over to us, grabbed Lapis around the waist in an attempt to stop her. "Let _go_ of me, Peridot!"

As the three squabbled amongst themselves, I felt a rush of tension from Garnet.

 _It's happening,_ I thought, becoming aware of a slight change in the atmosphere.

"Stop fighting!" I yelled at the trio, but my voice was drowned out by a sudden burst of sound from the heavens.

There was a sort of tearing noise, as if the very fabric of the universe was ripping, and a blinding flash of light as a shockwave threw everyone horizontal.

X

 **(AN: That's the end of this arc! To make up for the shortness of it, I'll post the first four chapters of the third arc - bringing us up through the last chapter I have completed.**

 **And yes, the chapter name isn't the best, but it was the best I could come up with at the time.)**


	34. 31: The Return

**(AN: And we're starting the third arc! This chapter is a bit short, but it has enough action that I think it works.)**

X

31: The Return

x x x x

"Ughhh," I groaned, sitting up as the light dissipated, revealing a familiar red spheroid. "Wha- they're _back?_ "

" _Jasper!_ " chest-Ruby cried, exiting the pod and spotting Jasper. Arm-Ruby, belly-Ruby, and hip-Ruby followed, spreading out into a line and approaching us. "You Gems _tricked_ us!"

"You're not welcome here," Pearl said, summoning her spear and moving to block the Rubies. "Go back to Homeworld!"

"Oh, we _will,_ " chest-Ruby said, glaring up at Pearl. "Just as soon as we get Jasper!"

"I'm right here," Jasper said, stepping forward. "Why are you looking for me?"

"I don't have to tell you that," the Ruby answered evasively.

"As a Quartz general, I have the authority to _make_ you tell me," Jasper said, towering imposingly over the Rubies as she spoke. "But I'm sure that you _don't_ want me to do that."

"Y-Yellow Diamond sent us," hip-Ruby stammered, breaking the terrified silence of the Rubies.

" _Why?_ " Jasper snapped, and hip-Ruby spun around, running back to the pod in fright.

"To bring you back to Homeworld," chest-Ruby said, crossing her arms to steady herself.

"I'm not returning to Homeworld," Jasper said, glaring at chest-Ruby, who faltered slightly. "I'm going to stay on Earth."

"You _will_ be returning to Homeworld!" the Ruby said, managing to conceal her fear of Jasper.

"No, I will _not!_ " Jasper spat, summoning her helmet and moving to attack the Ruby.

Suddenly, a beam of energy shot from the windshield of the Ruby Pod, enveloping everyone except the Rubies. I watched as the other Gems were poofed, before falling unconscious.

x x

The last to fall was Steven, and once he was out, the beam dissipated, allowing the Rubies to collect their prisoners. Gemstones were carried, and bodies were dragged, into a storage room in the pod.

"All secure?" the captain asked as the Rubies got to their posts.

"Yes, captain," the crew replied.

With a flash and a bang, the pod took off into space.

x x

In the lighthouse, Ronaldo was surveying the city when he saw a bright flash of light from just outside of town. His eyes darted to the source, and he spotted a red sphere zooming up into the sky.

"No! Not another space-hand!" he cried, running down to the beach house and banging on the door. "Emma! Steven! Gems!"

When no reply came, Ronaldo really started panicking. He pulled out his phone, shooting a text to Emma.

 _-Where are you? Are you guys okay?!-_

X

 **(AN: You know, I just realized that my system of breaking parts up with x's might be a bit confusing to those of you who aren't me. So!**

 **Big X: beginning/end of a chapter, before/after an author's note; mostly at the endx x: POV switch**

 **x x x: time skip**

 **x x x x: between the title and the beginning of the chapter**

 **in the Word doc that I write the story in, I use hyphens, but those don't transfer to FFN, so I replaced them with x's.**

 **And, Ronaldo hasn't completely dropped Emma from his life. So that's nice.)**


	35. 32: In Flight

32: In Flight

x x x x

I awoke to the sound of my phone buzzing, having received a text. Sitting up, I took out my phone and found that Ronaldo had texted me.

 _-Where are you? Are you guys okay?!-_

 _No idea on both counts,_ I thought, getting to my feet and looking around the room. The Gems hadn't regenerated, and were scattered carelessly around on the floor. Steven was sleeping peacefully between Ruby and Lapis' gems, a few feet from the door.

 _Well, if I'm the only one up, I might as well try to get answers,_ I mused, stepping carefully around the gemstones to the door. It was unlocked, thankfully, and I exited into a larger room.

There were five seats in the room, all facing a large, convex window. Upon further examination, I realized that the window was a windshield, and the seats contained the Rubies.

 _Shit,_ I grumbled internally, _we're in the Ruby Pod. On the bright side, space looks beautiful from this angle._

I approached the Rubies silently and slowly, feeling very lucky that they were exceedingly stupid. Once I got near the center of the room, I started scanning their minds to try and figure out exactly what was going on.

 _Heheheh, I'll_ _ **definitely**_ _get a pearl for this_ , Eye-Ruby giggled, and I left her thoughts as she fantasized about having a pearl. A very scantily-clad pearl.

 _Space is so pretty,_ Happy-Ruby thought, continuing on that line for longer than I cared to listen.

 _I want Jasper to punch me in the face,_ Arm-Ruby sighed, again forcing me to withdraw from fantasies of an almost-sexual nature. This time with violence.

Hip-Ruby provided nothing of note, so I moved on.

 _The ship's on track. That's good,_ Chest-Ruby thought, and I rolled my eyes at her lack of detail. Digging further, I couldn't find anything useful, so I came back to the present and walked back to the room I had came from.

When I reentered, I found that Ruby, Amethyst, Jasper, and Peridot had regenerated, with no noticeable changes to their forms. The other Gems were still poofed, and Steven was still fast asleep.

"Hey-"

 _Doo-doo-do-do-doo, doo-doo-do-do-doo. Doo-doo-do-_

"Hello?" I said, picking up Steven's phone and answering it.

 _"_ _Hello? Steven? Are you there?"_ Connie said, sounding worried.

"This is Emma," I replied, quickly coming up with a cover story. "Steven's busy, and he left his phone with me."

 _"_ _Oh, hi Emma,"_ she said, continuing, _"I'm at the house, for training with Pearl, and none of you are here."_

"I know..." I said. "We're not there."

 _"_ _Yeah,"_ Connie said, and I heard her take a deep breath before continuing, _"but if you're not here, then why is Ronaldo?"_

"What exactly is he doing? He likes to hang out on the porch and look through the windows sometimes, since his girlfriend broke up with him. He seems to think I'll change my mind and go out with him," I bluffed. Ronaldo had given up on me dating him after I revealed my relationship with Amethyst and Peridot, but Connie didn't know that.

 _"_ _He's staring at the sky through a telescope, and it's the middle of the afternoon,"_ she said. I bit my lip, working out a full cover that wouldn't cause her to panic.

"Well... I _do_ remember Steven saying that Ronaldo could observe the... Martian eclipse, I think it was, from the Temple, since it's out of the city's light pollution and gives an excellent view of space," I replied, BS-ing an astronomical event. "Yeah, that's it. Garnet predicted that it would be especially spectacular tonight, and it only happens once every two thousand years, so of _course_ he _had_ to see it."

 _"_ _Oh. But-"_

"Aah! No, not the watermelons!" I cried softly, pulling the phone an inch or so away from my ear, then putting it back. "Oh, Connie, I've gotta go. The corrupted gem is smashing watermelons. We should be back by the end of the week. See ya!"

 _"_ _Bye!"_

"That kid looks through the windows?" Amethyst asked, creeped out by the prospect of Ronaldo stalking me.

"No, he doesn't," I replied. "I just needed an excuse to find out what he was doing."

"So I'm guessing that the 'Martian eclipse' is fake, too?" she said.

"As far as I know." I said, putting the phone down next to Steven before sitting on the floor. "And the thing about Garnet predicting it, and the watermelon-smashing gem, plus I have _no idea_ why Ronaldo is on our porch with a telescope, _and_ the fact that we're gonna be back by the end of the week... Pretty much everything except the fact that we're not there, and that I was the one on the phone. Well, Steven technically _is_ busy, but not the way I implied to Connie."

"Wow, Em, you're a good liar," Amethyst said, giving a flirty grin and moving to sit next to me. Peridot joined us, and I pulled out my phone, looking down at the text from Ronaldo and deciding to reply.

 _-If anyone asks: you're watching the Martian eclipse, Steven said you could sit on the beach house porch for a better view, and the eclipse only happens once every two thousand years. We're all okay, and we should be back by the end of the week-_

After I pressed send, I watched the screen, waiting for the message to fail. Surprisingly, it didn't, and when I looked at the top of the screen, I saw that I had full cell signal.

"How am I getting signal in _space?_ " I asked, going into the settings and trying to turn on data. It worked, and I was able to get on Google.

"While you were focused on other events, I modified Steven's and your communication devices to transmit from anywhere," Peridot said, adding, "I also modified my 'tablet' in the same way, but I left that at your base."

I nodded along with her explanation, reading that a "Martian eclipse" was actually called a "transit", and that lunar eclipses on Mars weren't all that great.

"What about power?" I asked. "I need to charge this thing every so often."

"Oh, it draws energy from your gemstones," she replied. "Not enough to harm your form or hinder your powers, but enough to keep it working efficiently. So, w-mmf!"

In lieu of a response, I pulled Peridot in for a kiss, ignoring Amethyst's snort of laughter and Jasper's confusion.

After a minute or so, we parted, as I'd noticed Amethyst getting a bit jealous. Turning toward her, I pressed a brief kiss to her lips, but she held me in place, lengthening it for a good minute and a half before letting me up to breathe.

"So _that's_ who you're in a relationship with, Emerald," Jasper said with a smirk, and I recalled our conversation on Mask Island.

"Yeah," I said, smiling and putting my arms around my girlfriends.

Just then, I noticed a glowing from the corner of my eye. At first, I thought that Steven's phone was ringing again, but a glance toward the light revealed that Lapis was regenerating.

"Ahh," she sighed, floating down to sit peacefully on the floor. "Where are we?"

"On the Ruby Pod, presumably headed toward Homeworld," I replied, suppressing a wince as a flood of fear and dread overtook me.

"No, I can't go back to Homeworld!" Lapis cried, eyes blown wide in terror.

"Wh-"

I was interrupted by another Gem reforming, this time Pearl.

"What's going on?" Pearl asked, walking over to sit with the rest of us.

"The Rubies have us on their pod, likely going to Homeworld," I said, surveying the group to gauge their reactions. "I couldn't get anything from the Rubies on our destination."

"What _did_ you get?" Pearl asked, curious.

"Eye-Ruby thinks she'll get a Pearl for delivering us – and her fantasy Pearl is... barely wearing anything," I explained with a grimace. "Happy-Ruby thinks space is pretty. Arm-Ruby wants you to punch her in the face, Jasper, and has disturbingly erotic fantasies about you beating her up."

"Do I even want to know?" Jasper asked, looking rather disgusted.

"Absolutely not." I replied shortly, then continued, "Hip-Ruby is oblivious, and Chest-Ruby has the ship on track. She's glad that the mission was a success."

"So, what do we do now?" Amethyst said, looking around the assembled group for an authority figure.

"Not sure."

x x x

Half an hour later, we had a plan of attack. We were going to poof the Rubies and steer the pod back to Earth, taking the Rubies prisoner. Or leaving them on Mars; we hadn't decided yet.

"Emerald, go," Pearl said, pushing me out the door of our cell and into the main room of the pod. "You know what to do."

"Yes, I do," I said, silently walking to the center of the room. I looked behind me, where Pearl, Jasper, Amethyst, and Peridot stood, waiting for my next action.

Swiftly, I pulled an arrow from my gem and stepped forward, stabbing Eye-Ruby in the chest with my dagger and covering her mouth with my free hand.

 _Wait, a dagger? I pulled out an arrow!_ I thought, looking down at the deep green hilt of the knife protruding from the small gem's torso. She looked down at it too, her eye widening in shock as her body exploded in a cloud of glowing vapor.

Four more vapor explosions came from around the room, where the others had poofed their assigned Rubies.

"Where'd you get that sweet knife, Em?" Amethyst asked, eyeing the dagger in my right hand.

"I pulled it out of my gem," I replied, debating on whether or not to bubble the gemstone I held. "I thought it was an arrow."

"Was it the gem on the back of your neck?" Jasper asked, setting down the ruby she held and walking over to me.

"Yeah," I said, "how did you know?"

"It looks just like Emerald's dagger," she said, taking it from my hand and inspecting it carefully. "Yeah, it's the same one."

"I didn't know I could summon my mothers' weapons," I said, shocked. "It doesn't make sense. I'm a permanent fusion, aren't I?"

"Fusions can summon the weapons of their components," Pearl said, sitting down at the controls. "Ugh, this thing's on autopilot. I can't change its course!"

"You can't turn off autopilot?" I asked, moving to stand next to Pearl and looking at the screen. "What the hell kinda font _is_ this?"

"It's Gem language," she replied, poking at the screen in an attempt to hack in. "And I _could_ turn it off autopilot, but we don't have enough time. We're going to land in a few minutes."

"I thought Homeworld was in a faraway galaxy," I said, confused. "Wouldn't that take a long time to get to from Earth?"

"We're not going to Homeworld," Pearl said, looking up through the windshield, where a large pink space station loomed over us.

"We're at the Human Zoo."

X

 **(AN: The Zoo! Originally, before the Zoo was revealed to exist, I had them going directly to Homeworld, but I thought a stop at the Zoo would be nice. The Rubies don't know that Steven and Emma are Gems, after all, so they're just getting rid of them at the Zoo.**

 **I realize that the whole phone thing is a bit far-fetched, but this is Steven Universe we're talking about, so why couldn't it be possible, especially when done by Peridot.**

 **I'm not sure how well Connie believed Emma's excuse, but we're focusing on the Gems for now, so we won't find out. (And I haven't planned anything for it. I'm considering a** ** _New Crystal Gems_** **type chapter, focusing on Connie and Ronaldo taking the places of the CG's, but it's not set in stone. Nothing past the beginning of chapter 36 is planned, but I do have vague ideas.)**

 **Technically, Emma can only summon one of her mothers' weapons, but that's because the other one didn't have one. Besides, what would combine with a dagger to make a bow and arrows?)**


	36. 33: Fuck You, Holly Blue

33: Fuck You, Holly Blue

x x x x

"The _what_ now?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Pearl expectantly.

"Pink Diamond's Human Zoo," she replied matter-of-factly, withdrawing her hands from the controls as we sailed into the hangar of the larger spacecraft.

"Human Zoo?" Steven said from behind us. "Why would Gems have a human zoo?"

"Pink Diamond was fascinated with humans," Pearl said, "and she wanted to preserve them, even after the Earth was uninhabitable."

The pod made a smooth landing, and we looked out the windshield, seeing two large, purple gems standing by a door.

"Amethyst guards," Jasper said, squinting briefly at them, then turning to Amethyst. "That's what you would've looked like if you had come out on time."

"Oh," Amethyst said, watching the guards for a moment before turning back to us. "What now?"

Suddenly, the door of the pod opened, catching us by surprise.

"It seems like the decision's been made for us," I said, looking through the door at the mostly empty hangar.

"Well, let's go, guys," Amethyst said, shapeshifting herself to look like the big Amethysts and leading us out of the pod.

"What're _you_ doing here?" one of the Amethysts growled, looking us over critically.

"We-"

" _What_ is going on here?" a blue Gem, roughly the same size as the Amethysts, snapped, coming through the door and glaring at the Amethysts. She did a double-take when she saw us, focusing on Sapphire and doing a weird salute with her arms

"Your Clarity! I trust that these _imbeciles-_ " the Gem punched one of the Amethysts in the arm "weren't rude to you?"

"They were not," Sapphire said, and the blue gem nodded curtly, her gaze sweeping over the rest of us.

"You brought humans!" she said, disgust rolling off her in waves. "Well, we need to put them in the containment area." She turned to the Amethysts, who straightened up, doing the salute. "Take them to be assimilated!"

 _Assimilated?!_ I thought, watching as the Amethysts nodded to the blue gem. They grabbed Steven and me, carrying us off through the halls.

x x

Back in the hangar, the Crystal Gems started to panic. Luckily, Sapphire knew that the blue Gem would bend over backwards for a sapphire, being of a lower class.

"I would like a tour of the facilities," Sapphire said, looking up at the blue Gem, a Holly Blue Agate.

"Of course, Your Clarity," Holly Blue said, saluting once again before turning and leaving the hangar. She paused briefly, glaring at Amethyst and Jasper as they started to leave the hangar. "Quartzes guard the door."

"Okay then," Amethyst said, rolling her eyes and leaning against the wall, watching the other Amethysts warily.

Beyond the door, the others followed Holly Blue down the hall as she rambled on, trying to impress Sapphire.

"As Blue Diamond's trusted Agate, I am honored to serve at such an important facility," she said. "But, of course, _some Gems_ just don't know their place. Ugh, those Earth quartzes are so _difficult!_ "

Holly Blue paused, as they had come to a door. The group stood there for a few moments before Pearl moved to the control panel and opened the door.

"I'll get that..." she said, letting out a nervous laugh and following the group through the door, stopping to close it behind them.

"I _cannot_ understand _how_ you put up with her," Holly Blue remarked to Sapphire as Pearl opened the next door, obviously irritated that Pearl wasn't completely subservient.

"As a Sapphire, I know that it will eventually be done," Sapphire said, and Holly Blue hummed her understanding, nodding in agreement.

"Of course, Your Clarity," she said, taking a breath before starting off on another rambling attempt to impress Sapphire.

 _Can she not see anyone but Pearl and Sapphire?_ Lapis thought, watching Holly Blue as she led them through the halls.

"Where does this door lead?" Sapphire asked, indicating the door that they were coming up to.

"It opens into the zoo," Holly Blue said, her lip curling in disgust.

"Oh, of course," Sapphire said, nodding. "And h-"

" _Explosion!_ " Ruby cried out, causing everyone to turn to her in shock. "I forgot to turn off the gravity drive in the ship. It could explode at any minute!"

"Ah, yes, it will," Sapphire agreed. "We should have about five minutes, if we hurry."

"Come along, Your Clarity," Holly Blue said, turning to walk back the way they came. Sapphire gave the others a one-eyed wink, which confused them until Ruby winked back. " _Honestly_ , why they trust rubies with those ships is beyond me..."

Once Holly Blue and Sapphire were out of sight, Pearl tried to open the zoo door to no avail.

"I-I can't get it open," Pearl said, staring at the controls as she kept trying to open it.

"Ugh! Aren't you a hacker?" Ruby snapped, tense.

"Well, yes..." Pearl replied, changing tactics and starting to hack the door.

"You hack, we'll try to force it open!" Ruby said, beating on the door. She ran at it, walking up the vertical surface and leaving charred footprints on the metal. In desperation, she scratched at it, finally sinking down to lay on the floor in defeat.

While Ruby worked, Lapis and Peridot attempted to pull the door open, also failing.

"Yes, Holly Blue..." Sapphire's voice carried down the hall, heralding the return of the blue gems. Pearl stepped away from the door controls, and the others moved away from the door, playing innocent.

"Oh! Those Amethysts have _no_ respect," Holly Blue said, spotting the damage to the door. As she lamented the scratched and charred metal, a pair of Amethysts came running up to the group.

"Holly Blue Agate!" they shouted, coming to a stop beside the door.

"There is _no_ running or shouting within these halls!" Holly Blue snapped, glaring at the gems.

"But Blue Diamond is here, Holly Blue," one of them, unusually red-tinted for an Amethyst, said.

" _Blue Diamond?_ " Holly Blue repeated, and the Amethysts nodded in confirmation. "She just left not too long ago!"

"Well, she's back," the second Amethyst said, and Holly Blue glared at the pair, stalking over to them menacingly.

"If Blue Diamond is here, you must show respect!" she spat. "Backs _straight!_ " she shoved them into a more upright position "Heads _clear!_ " Holly Blue grabbed the Amethysts' heads and knocked them together "Now, go!"

"Yes, Holly Blue Agate!" the Amethysts said, saluting her and leaving.

"Oh, another visit from Blue Diamond!" Holly Blue sighed, in awe. "It's nice to know that she still respects the integrity of this place."

"Of course, Holly Blue," Sapphire agreed.

"Now, let us go and greet her."

X

 **(AN: I really don't like Holly Blue Agate. She's a bitch, and a kiss-ass.)**


	37. 34: The Zoo

34: The Zoo

x x x x

"You brought humans!" the blue Gem said, disgust rolling off her in waves. "Well, we need to put them in the containment area." She turned to the Amethysts, who straightened up, doing the salute. "Take them to be assimilated!"

 _Assimilated?!_ I thought, watching as the Amethysts nodded to the blue gem. They grabbed Steven and me, carrying us off through the halls.

"Why does Holly Blue Agate have to be so uptight all the time?" the Amethyst carrying Steven asked, stopping in front of a small door in the wall. She pressed a finger to the control panel, opening the door.

"She's a bitch, that's why," the Amethyst carrying me answered, dropping me through the door.

Immediately after the door closed, I started moving along a tunnel on a conveyor belt. A few moments in, floating fingers came up and started poking at me, presumably performing a health check.

After my temperature was taken, the fingers removed my shoes, followed by my socks and shirt.

"Oh, come _on,_ " I groaned, sitting there passively as my shorts were taken. Next, the fingers started trying to remove my bra, but were confused. "I'll get that," I grumbled, reaching back and unhooking it, then handing it over to the fingers.

Once I was mostly nude (my underwear wasn't taken, thank God), a new set of fingers appeared, spraying me with some weird mist.

"Agh! You stupid floaty phalanges!" I snapped, swatting at them as they left. When the mist cleared, I saw a large smashy thing smashing against the conveyor belt. "Well, fuck me. I'm about to get juiced."

However, instead of crushing me, the smashy thing clothed me in a uniform consisting of a blue vest and a long loincloth, which was held on by a brown belt. Then, the accursed fingers were back, jamming a set of earrings through my earlobes.

"Gah! That _hurt_ , you-"

With a _slam_ , a set of glass panes came down behind and in front of me. I rolled my eyes, standing up and moving to punch my way out when a rush of water came down from above.

 _Uh, humans can't breathe underwater, you dumbasses,_ I thought, crossing my arms and sighing internally. I heard a _whoosh_ , and a hole opened up in the floor, taking me through it in a whirlpool.

 _Do they think humans are aquatic?_ I mused, letting the waterslide-esque tube take me wherever it went.

Finally, I was ejected into a shallow lake, a short distance from a beach where a pair of humans sat, talking and laughing.

"Hello?" I called, standing up and walking through the water toward the humans.

"Hello!" the man called back, raising a hand in greeting. The woman turned around, also raising a hand.

"Hello!" she said. "I am J Ten. What is your name?"

"Emma," I said, stepping onto the beach and looking down at the humans. "My name is Emma."

"I am Y Six," the man said, smiling up at me. "Come, sit down with us!"

"Okay," I said, sitting down and offering a nervous smile. The pure contentment of the captive humans was unsettling, especially since I couldn't detect any complex emotions from anywhere around me.

"Your hair is so long and pretty!" J10 said, reaching out to touch my hair. "May I braid it?"

"Uhm, sure," I said, turning my back to her. After a moment of her playing with my hair, I came to a startling realization.

 _What if she sees my gem?_ I thought, attempting to cool my panic by absorbing the surrounding calm and reasoning with myself. _They probably don't know what Gems are. I mean, that blue Gem seemed disgusted by humans, and these ones have been in here their whole lives, so they haven't been assimilated like I was..._

"Ooh, Y Six, get some flowers for her hair!" J10 said, and I could feel her twisting my hair into a thick braid. Her fingers almost brushed the gem on my neck, but luckily she managed to avoid it. "So, Emma, where did you come from?"

"I came from Earth," I said, adjusting the top of my loincloth to cover the gem on my chest. "That's where humans are naturally from."

"There are other humans?" Y6 asked, returning with a handful of blue and yellow flowers that he started adorning my head with.

"There are a lot of other humans," I replied, nodding. "In fact, another human came here with me. His name is Steven."

"Ste-von?" Y6 repeated, and I almost corrected him before remembering that the humans here had ID numbers instead of actual names.

"Yeah, Steven," I said, returning his smile and enjoying the feeling of my hair being braided.

x x x

"Emma!" Steven called from the lake, and I turned around to see him standing up to come over to me.

"Steven! You're here!" I crowed with delight, running over and picking him up in a hug. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Yeah, Emma... but we've gotta get out of here!" Steven said, wriggling his way out of my arms and trying to reopen the hole in the floor he'd entered through.

"I doubt that's going to work, Steven," I said, picking him up and carrying him to the beach. "Besides, I've got a plan."

"Emma! Is this Ste-von?" Y6 asked, smiling at us.

 _Holy fuck, do you guys have any emotions other than happy contentment?_ I thought, but I merely said, "Yeah, this is Steven."

"Ste-von! Welcome, welcome!" Y6 said, beaming down at Steven.

Suddenly, our earrings lit up, and a soothing voice played through them.

" _Greetings, everyone. It's time to start the daily routine,_ " the voice said, and I looked at one of my earrings in confusion. " _Please enjoy your meal during this designated eating period._ "

"What was that?" Steven asked, just as confused as I was.

"Stevon does not know what a little voice is!" Y6 said, laughing.

"Our little voices guide us through life here," J10 explained, just as the earrings lit up again.

" _You all must be hungry now,_ " the voice said, and Y6 and J10 made noises of agreement, walking away.

Assuming that they were heading toward the food, and feeling a bit hungry myself, I followed them, carrying Steven with me.

"It'll be okay, Steven," I assured him as I walked. "We'll get out when everyone else is sleeping. There has to be a door here somewhere."

"Oh, all right," Steven grumbled, resigning himself to spending the day here.

"At least try to enjoy yourself, okay?" I said, looking down at him. "Or I'll channel these humans' overly simple emotions onto you."

"You wouldn't," Steven said, looking up at me incredulously.

"Nah, I won't," I said, grinning at him. "Their emotions are too suffocating for me, so I have to block them out."

"Why?" Steven asked as we came into a clearing where purple fruit magically grew on the trees.

"All they feel is contentment," I replied. "The only complex emotions here are from you and me, since they don't know anything but complete happiness."

"Here you go, Emma," J10 said, handing me a fruit. I accepted it, setting Steven down on his feet.

"Ah, thank you," I said, smiling.

"Stevon," Y6 said, giving a fruit to Steven. "Today the fruit is purple!"

 _That man is way too excited about purple fruit,_ I thought, looking around at the eating humans.

" _Are you enjoying the food,_ " the earring voice asked.

"Oh yes!" the humans chorused, smiling as they chewed. I took a bite of the fruit, expecting it to be heavenly, but was disappointed to find that it just tasted like an apple. A pretty damn good apple, but still just an apple.

" _How is the food?_ " the voice pressed, " _Is it good?_ "

"Yes," Y6 said. "It is delicious."

Once we were done eating, the voice came back.

" _Now it's time to play,_ " it instructed, and Y6 and J10 led Steven and me to a grassy hill, which they rolled down excitedly. I followed suit, but Steven wasn't happy to roll down the hill.

" _Now everyone, reach up like you're going to touch outer space,_ " the voice said, and all of us except Steven reached up to the sky. After a moment, Steven joined in, grumbling internally about how it was a waste of time.

" _That's it! Reach up high!_ " the voice said, its tone reminding me of how someone would talk to a baby. " _Wasn't that fun?_ "

"I have not had that much fun since yesterday!" Y6 laughed.

" _It's time to stop and smell the flowers,_ " the little voice said, heralding a move to a part of the forest where flowers grew in abundance.

"What if I... don't want to smell the flowers," Steven suggested, and I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent from delivering a snarky comment, instead letting J10 handle the situation.

"Why wouldn't you want to do that?" she asked, taking the flower she was smelling and sticking it in Steven's hair. He removed the flower, considering it with a small frown.

" _Time to clean up, everyone,_ " the voice said, and I picked Steven up, following the other humans to a waterfall pool where they were bathing. " _Let's all take a refreshing bath._ "

Surprisingly, everyone was still clothed. A fact I was grateful for, since Steven was there, but it still confused me.

I surveyed the bathing humans for a moment before noticing that J10 was tiptoeing to the edge of a very shallow cliff at the edge of the pool.

"Watch my splash, Emma!" she called, and I focused on her, my interest piqued. She dove into the pool, making a very tiny splash as she entered the water.

"Nice one," I said, hiding my disappointment. I had expected a pretty big splash, not a perfect dive.

"Emma! Watch mine!" Y6 called, standing on a higher cliff. He dove, making a much smaller splash.

"Those are the tiniest splashes I've ever seen," Steven remarked, and I looked down at him with a conspiratorial grin, setting him on the ground.

"Watch this," I said, walking to the edge of the pool where Y6 surfaced. "Hey Y Six, you ever heard of a cannonball?"

"I have never heard it," he said, laughing. "Tell me what it is."

"Check this out," I said, backing up a few meters to get a running start. "I'll show you."

I ran to the edge of the pool, leaping over Y6's head with a cry of "Cannonball!" and landing in the pool with a huge splash. A few of the humans gathered around me, slightly concerned, but their concern turned to laughter when I surfaced.

The humans, inspired by my boldness, started doing cannonballs into the pool as well. Eventually, Steven jumped in as well, surfacing with a look of disappointment.

"Hey, you doing okay?" I asked, swimming over to him.

"I can't believe this," Steven said, gesturing to the humans. "They're all so happy. It's like, they don't even know that they're trapped here."

With a sigh, I let my mind wander through the area, picking up on the thoughts and feelings of the humans.

"They've never been anywhere else, Steven," I said, continuing, "they love it here. I mean, look at this place! They've got everything they need, and they never have to worry about a thing. They don't even have to think about what they're going to do  
during the day, since it's all planned out already."

"I guess you're right," Steven sighed.

Suddenly, I noticed the sky darkening. Turning around, I found a dark circle sliding across the "sun" to form a crescent moon.

" _And now it's time to say goodnight,_ " the soothing voice said from our earrings, prompting the humans to leave the pool and find places to sleep on the ground. " _Goodnight everyone. Sweet dreams._ "

I yawned, joining Steven in laying against a surprisingly comfortable flower bush and watching the humans fall asleep.

"Come on, most of them are out," I said quietly, standing up and starting through the forest with Steven following behind.

After a short walk, I bumped face-first into a hard surface. A step back revealed that it was a door, poorly concealed with giant leaves.

"It's a door," Steven said, stepping forward and beginning to beat on it in an attempt to open it.

"Emma!" Y6 said, popping up from behind a bush and startling me.

"Stevon!" J10 said, popping up beside Y6.

"So you are the ones making the noise," Y6 said with a smile.

"What are you doing?" J10 asked, continuing, "Is it a game?"

"Can we play too?" Y6 asked, both of them comically missing the point.

"It's not a game," Steven said. "We need to get this door open."

"What is a 'door'?" J10 asked.

"Like, this part of the wall, but _open_ ," Steven explained, gesturing to the door.

"Haha, walls don't _open_ ," Y6 laughed, "they're _walls_."

"There _is_ a story of an opening wall," J10 said, catching everyone's attention. "A long time ago, a Gem came through a wall-hole to help someone who was 'hurt'."

"What do you mean, 'hurt'?" Y6 asked.

"I don't know," J10 replied. "I don't know what 'hurt' is."

"I know what hurt is!" Steven said, raising his hand into the air. The confused humans turned to him, curious.

"You do?" they asked in unison.

"Um, it's like when you feel... bad," Steven tried to explain.

"...Bad?" Y6 repeated.

"Yes!" Steven said. "Like, the opposite of good. Ach, if that's the only way out, then Emma, slug me in the face."

"What? I'm not gonna hit you!" I said, looking down at him in disbelief.

"It's our ticket outta here," Steven said. "One of us has to get hurt!"

"Okay, well, then you hit me," I said, gesturing to myself.

"You sure?" Steven asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'll take one for the team."

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the impact, when I felt a light tap on my cheek.

"Come on, gimme all you got," I said. "I can take it."

Steven cocked his arm, throwing a punch that flung me backwards into a tree.

"Cannonball!" Y6 said, missing the point once again.

"How was that?" Steven asked, coming to my side.

"Good," I groaned. "Anyone coming?"

"Doesn't look like it," Steven said. "Should I try again?"

"I won't be able to get out of here if you do," I said, almost certain that I had at least a fractured rib.

"What do we do now?" Steven asked, dejected.

A familiar chime came from right beside my ears, and my eyes widened as the earrings began to glow.

"Whatever _she_ says," I said, picking myself up off the ground and leaning against the tree.

" _It is time for the Choosening,_ " the voice said. " _Please, gather around the Circle of Choosening._ "

"Stevon. Emma! The Choosening will start soon," J10 said, moving toward us.

"Come with us," Y6 said, excited. "It's finally time!"

Steven and I followed the pair to a clearing in the forest where there was a pair of large, glowing circles on the ground, one inside the other.

"Emma, step into the circle with us," J10 said, walking to the edge of the outer circle. I followed warily, uncertain of this "Choosening" thing.

"Stevon, wait here until the Choosening is complete," Y6 said, leaving Steven a short distance from the circle.

"The Choosening is a very special event to us," J10 said, and I gave a nervous smile.

"We're glad to have you with us at such a wonderful time," Y6 added.

"Glad to be here," I said with a shrug.

" _Let the Choosening begin,_ " the voice said, and everyone closed their eyes, waiting for something.

" _U Twelve, please step into the center of the circle,_ " the voice said, and a dark skinned woman moved into the smaller circle, grinning in excitement. " _F Three, please step into the center of the circle,_ " came the next selection, and  
a blonde man went to stand in front of U12. " _You have been Choosened for each other._ "

"Wait a second, is this some kind of _matchmaking thing?_ " I said, appalled. "There's always a catch to these utopias."

"Emma, whoever is Choosened for you will be very lucky," Y6 said, smiling at me in admiration.

" _Y Six, please step into the center of the circle,_ " the voice said, and I looked back to the center circle to find that the first couple had left. Y6 entered the middle circle, and I looked around the outer circle, wondering who would be designated  
for him.

" _Em-ma, please step into the center of the circle,_ " the voice said, and everyone turned to me. Y6 looked delighted that I had been Choosened for him, but I wasn't.

"Wait, maybe there's been a mistake?" I asked, grabbing one of my earrings and looking at it. I could feel Steven's shock from behind me, but also the excitement of the humans in front of me.

"Emma, Y Six is waiting for you!" J10 said, gesturing to the grinning man in the center of the circle. The humans cheered, and I looked around at them, uneasy.

"I know what is going on here," J10 said, grinning at me.

"You do?" I asked, confused.

"You are just shy!" J10 said, grabbing me by the shoulders and pushing me into the circle to stand in front of Y6. "Do not worry about it! Now, touch hands..."

"Hold on!" I cried, pulling my hands back to myself. "This isn't how it works on Earth! I... don't wanna be told who to be Choosened with."

 _I've already been Choosened, by two great Gems..._ I thought, biting the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from speaking.

"Emma, this makes no sense," J10 said. "Why wouldn't you want to be Choosened?"

"Look, back on Earth, there wasn't a voice to tell you who to be with," I explained. "It was your own decision."

"My mom and dad didn't get together because someone told them to," Steven said. "They spent time getting to know one another, and fell in love. They Choosened each other, because, that's what they Choosed."

"Hmm, I see," J10 said. "If that's how it is on Earth, then... I choose Emma!"

"And I also choose Emma!" Y6 said, starting a wave of people choosing me.

" _Wait!_ " I cried, looking around at my admirers. "I get a say in this too! You're all very nice, and I'm flattered, and yes, you get to choose who you want, but I also get to say that I choose, uh.. none of you."

My rejection caused all the humans to start crying, with one man even ripping his vest apart in despair.

"Woah, hey, don't cry," I said. "You can choose someone else!"

"I feel not-good," J10 cried. "I feel... bad?"

"Could this be?" Y6 said through tears. "Is this 'hurt'?!"

"Why would Emma 'hurt' us?" J10 said, and the humans raised their hands to the sky. "Take this 'hurt' away!"

"I Choosen... to take Emma and run away!" Steven said, picking me up and running out of the clearing. He ran, with the humans following us, through the forest.

"Watch out for that-" I started, seeing a tree branch up ahead that I was pretty sure would clothesline me. "Oof!"

The force of impact with the branch knocked me out of Steven's hands and onto the ground, where he stopped running and dragged me off the path. We hid behind a bush as the humans ran past, watching them go by.

"I haven't broken this many hearts since I left England," I remarked, shocked at the sheer number of humans that had Choosened me.

Suddenly, the door out of the Zoo opened, letting in a flood of Amethysts, who chased down the crying humans.

"Hey, get back here!" one said, running right past our bush.

"This is crazy!" I said, watching the Amethysts attempt to console the humans.

"Just calm down," one called to a human in a tree. "Let's talk about it!"

"I'll never Choosen again!" a human sobbed to the Amethyst kneeling beside him.

"Sure you will," she said, putting an arm around him.

"Hey, the door's still open," I said, noticing the light from the open door.

"This might be our only chance!" Steven said, and we jumped out from behind the bush, running to the door.

"Oh, no you don't," an Amethyst said, grabbing Steven and I by our shirts and lifting us into the air.

"Put us down!" Steven cried, flailing about.

"You two are in _big_ trouble," the Amethyst said, looking between Steven and me.

She tucked us under her arms, carrying us out of the zoo and through the halls to a large room, where she dropped us on the floor.

"Are these the ones?" she asked, and I looked up to see a bunch of Amethysts, as well as some Jaspers and a small red Gem that I couldn't identify, looking down at us. Our Amethyst and Jasper were nowhere to be seen, but at that moment, I didn't care.

X

 **(AN: Why doesn't Emma care that she can't find Amethyst and Jasper? Find out in the next chapter!**

 **Yeah, I basically swapped Greg out for Emma in the zoo, also switching who was Choosened for Emma - the Choosening is the first part of a breeding program (in EU "canon"), so pairing two females would be counter-intuitive.**

 **Originally, this chapter was longer, but I wanted to post as much as possible today, so I cut it at what I thought was a good point.**

 **We're at the end of what I have completed so far. But not what I have planned! I've got another chapter and a half for EU planned, and I've also got the four prequel stories completely mapped out. I'm just having trouble writing them, since I've basically got to do all the worldbuilding myself. I mean, I've got a good foundation, and some of the big parts are in the plans, but the little details are going to be difficult to pin down.)**

 **(AN 2: I think I'm gonna make the Beach City focused part - that I mentioned in the AN for chapter 32 - into a separate, shorter story. I still have to figure out who the others - apart from Connie and Ronaldo - will be. Lion will be there, as himself, but the other CGs' "replacements" are evading me. Maybe the Cool Kids? Yeah, that sounds good to me, especially since they canonically have parallels to the CGs.)**


End file.
